


Soothing the Distressed Soul

by SkinnyProcrastinator



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Boston, F/F, Swan-Mills Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-10
Updated: 2014-12-30
Packaged: 2018-02-28 20:41:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 52
Words: 67,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2746352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkinnyProcrastinator/pseuds/SkinnyProcrastinator
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Following Cora's death, Regina retreats into grief but with the people of Storybrooke baying for her blood and Henry becoming more distant she finally gives up and decides to leave town. Starting a new life in Boston it's up to Emma and Henry to convince Regina to come home and, more importantly, not to trust everyone she meets in the city. Eventual SwanQueen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Emma Swan slammed her foot on the brakes of the police cruiser and frowned as she put the old town-owned car into reverse and slowly drove backwards up the street until she was parallel with Mifflin Street. She looked out of the passenger window and could see Regina Mills, former Mayor and almost former Evil Queen, packing her Mercedes with boxes and bags.

With a heavy sigh she wondered what the woman was up to now and shifted the car into drive, heaved the heavy wheel around and slowly approached Regina's vehicle from behind. From this angle she could see the back of the woman as she manoeuvred items in the trunk of the car in order to fit more items in. She seemed so engrossed in her task she hadn't noticed the car behind her at all.

Emma took a few moments to watch as Regina shifted boxes left and right and restacked them as she took new items from the pile on the kerb and added them as well. Aside from official business, Emma hadn't seen Regina properly for the last two months, ever since the debacle with Cora.

Once Mary Margret had killed Cora everyone assumed Regina would go home to lick her wounds and would then plan a funeral and bounce back as she often did. But when Emma had attempted to contact Regina about a burial she had received no reply and after a week Cora's body mysteriously vanished and everyone assumed that Regina had held some kind of a private ceremony.

Consumed with grief, Mary Margaret had gone to Regina's house with the intention of getting Regina to kill her. But Regina hadn't even answered the door no matter how much Mary Margaret hammered on the wooden barrier and shouted for Regina to speak to her. When Mary Margaret had recounted the story to Emma and David they were stunned that she had gone to see Regina but also concerned that Regina hadn't responded in anyway.

Ever since they had accused Regina of killing Archie, Henry had been growing more and more distant. At first Emma had dragged him to see Regina but had stopped when she saw the hurt it was causing Henry to have to see the older woman and the pain it was causing Regina to know that her son really did seem to hate her. Emma had tried to tell Regina that kids would be kids but Regina hadn't listened and seemed to withdraw even more from public life.

Then the rumours began. People began to get wind of the fact that Regina never left her house and, rather than leave her alone as Emma had hoped, they decided to strike first before the Evil Queen could strike them. There had been a few vandalism attempts on the property, Emma attended in an official capacity and arrested the offenders but she couldn't help but be confused that Regina hadn't used her magic to throw them off her property.

There had been talk of a revolution, the people would rise up to meet the Evil Queen head-on. Emma hadn't taken it very seriously at first, if a bunch of fairy tale characters wanted revolution that what was the harm? During the chaotic scenes at the next town hall meeting she asked why they needed a revolution when Regina hadn't been seen for weeks. That's when she realised how violent and paranoid fairy tale characters could be.

David and Mary Margaret had done what they could to calm the people but fear was high and without Regina putting on a show and casting a few fireballs or a small earthquake to calm the rabble things got more and more heated. It was assumed that the Queen had lost her power and they should pounce upon this moment of weakness. The next day Emma noticed that 108 Mifflin Street had been covered in toilet paper.

That was when Emma decided to ignore talk of a revolution, unless it began to affect the supplies of toilet paper in the town. But that had been a mistake and the next week things had gotten much worse, calls came in of a disturbance on Mifflin Street and she had responded quickly to see the door had been kicked in and a group of people were raiding the house. She had run in, consumed with adrenaline, and started shouting for them to stop and leave the building and they slowly, begrudgingly, left the house and Emma did a quick sweep of the house for Regina.

She had found her locked in an upstairs bathroom, clearly frightened but refusing to show it. Instead she bluffed her way through the awkward situation with a mix of boredom, anger and bravado. She'd asked why she bothered paying tax if the response from the Sheriff's office was to be so slow and Emma countered by saying she could always use her magic to protect herself. Regina had frowned and told Emma that she had faithfully promised Henry that she would not use magic again and she intended to keep that promise, even if it meant injury to herself.

That had left a bad taste in Emma's mouth as she left the house, she asked herself if she would face an angry mob with her hands tied behind her back if Henry had asked. No, was the answer. No, she would protect herself with everything she had.

She looked up at Regina packing her car and wondered what she was doing and she also wondered when the town grapevine would hear about it and another gang of angry citizens would descend upon them. She stepped out of the car and stuck her hands in her pocket as she approached Regina.

"Going somewhere?" Emma called out with a smile.

Regina jumped in fear at the sudden, unexpected company and spun around to see who it was. That's when Emma paused in shock and asked, "what happened to you?"

Regina turned around and ignored the blonde and continued putting items in her car, this time with less care.

Emma quickly approached and grabbed Regina's arm and turned her around so she could get a proper look at Regina's face. Regina couldn't fight her strength but she could look at the ground with barely concealed anger at Emma's actions and it gave Emma the opportunity to take in the bruised eye socket and the split lip.

"Who did this to you?" Emma asked angrily.

"I fell," Regina said with a raised eyebrow before she moved to turn around but Emma held her arm tightly. Regina winced as if it caused her pain and Emma quickly let go as if her fingers had been burnt, "sorry.."

"I doubt that," Regina mumbled as she turned back to her car to examine her terrible and clearly rushed packing job.

"Regina, I can't protect you if you don't tell me who did this," Emma said softer this time.

"You can't protect me anyway," Regina muttered, "so I'm leaving."

"Leaving?" Emma asked in shock.

"Yes, I would have thought even your lacklustre detection skills would be able to ascertain that I am packing my car with my belongings," she turned to face Emma, "running away, it's my turn now."

"What about Henry?" Emma gasped as she realised Regina was just going to leave, presumably without telling anyone.

"That's one of the reasons why I'm leaving," Regina said with a small shrug, "I can't keep him safe, and you certainly can't as long as I'm here. Relying on sheer dumb luck to keep me from being killed by these crazy people isn't going to keep me alive for long without using my magic. And if I use my magic then Henry will never trust me.. or love me.. again. And if I stay.. how long until they go after Henry?" Regina paused as her eyes glazed over at the thought before she quickly continued, "no, I have to leave. Henry won't miss me but perhaps one day he will understand that I did this to protect him.. It's a fait accompli, Miss Swan," she paused before adding, "that's a nice way of saying I'm screwed no matter what I do."

The brunette paused as if wondering why she was bothering to explain herself to the woman in front of her. She shook her head and continued moving items in the trunk to make room for the final items.

"I left a note and a spare key for the house at your apartment," Regina muttered, "it won't be long before they raid the house, Henry should take whatever he wants sooner rather than later."

"Where are you going?" Emma asked, finally finding a practical question in the mass of questions currently swimming about in her mind.

"Boston," Regina said plainly, "I have been once or twice and at least then I know I won't be followed."

"How will Henry get in touch?" Emma asked.

Regina laughed, "he won't want to.. he has made that more than clear."

"Kids.. they're cruel and.." Emma stumbled over her words as she knew she had only one chance to get this right, to get this right for Henry, "and.. they change their minds. Please, leave some contact details or something so he can speak with you once you get there."

Regina looked at Emma as she evaluated her words and Emma tried to not stare at the bruising around her eye, it looked like it had been there for at least a day as it was starting to heal. Emma wondered what had happened and who was to blame and her mind was racing through the possibilities.

Regina suddenly turned to the car and opened a briefcase and took out a sheet of paper and a fancy looking pen and wrote some digits down on a piece of paper and handed it to Emma, "my new number."

Emma looked at it and handed it back, "and an address?"

She knew that Regina wouldn't leave without having somewhere to go and was pleased when the brunette snatched the piece of paper back and wrote an address under the telephone number. Emma caught a glimpse of the address and recognised the address to be a nice area of Boston.

Regina handed the piece of paper back, "I expect these contact details to only be viewed by you and Henry, no one else."

Emma caught the catch in her voice and nodded, "I promise.."

Regina nodded and turned away to pack the last couple of items and Emma stood uncomfortably and watched her before jokingly asking, "aren't you going to say goodbye?"

Regina glared at her, "no."

"You're really going to do this?" Emma asked with a small shake of the head.

Regina slammed the trunk of the car shut and marched over to the drivers' door and opened it, she looked over the car at Emma, "goodbye, Miss Swan," she said with finality before getting in the car and starting the engine.

Emma watched as the car drove off up the street and turned at the end of the road.


	2. Chapter 2

Emma paced the small apartment kitchen as she awaited the arrival of the rest of her family. She had sent an urgent text to Mary Margaret, David and Henry asking for an immediate family meeting and they were all on their way. She let out a heavy sigh as she braced herself against the kitchen counter, she had no idea what Henry would think of Regina's disappearance. She suspected he'd shrug and act like it didn't bother him but then how could it not, no matter how much he had fought with Regina recently he still loved her deep down. A part of Emma often wondered if Henry's dislike of Regina was only fuelled by the suggestion that other people thought he should dislike her. She shook her head and began to pace again, psychoanalysing the kid wasn't going to help.

The door flung open and a concerned looking Mary Margaret entered with Henry in tow, having both come straight from the school.

"Hey Mom," Henry said as he put is school bag and coat on the rack beside the door.

"Hi Emma," Mary Margaret frowned and gently asked, "is everything okay?"

Emma was about to say she wanted to wait for David when the man appeared in the doorway.

"Erm, something happened that I think we need to talk about," Emma said and gestured to the table and they all quickly took a seat while looking up at Emma with apprehensive expressions.

"I.. I spoke to Regina today," Emma started and was irked by the immediate lack of interest in all faces at the table, "she's.. she's gone."

Lack of interest returned to confusion and David was the first one to speak, "gone?"

"She's left Storybrooke," Emma clarified as she leaned on the kitchen counter and considered how to explain what had happened, "she, she wasn't going to tell anyone but I happened to drive up Mifflin Street when she was packing the car up."

"Wait," Henry said in a voice that reminded Emma how young he was, "she's.. like, left? For good?"

Emma bit her lip and slowly nodded in confirmation.

Henry stilled as he took this information on board and Mary Margaret spoke up, "are you sure she's left, she's not coming back?"

"Are you sure she's even really left?" David asked, obviously convinced that this was another trick. And who could blame him after all the bluffs and double bluffs through the years of fighting Regina.

"She has left, really left and she is not intending to come back," Emma said clearly, "as I say I spoke to her and.. she made it very clear. There was also a note left here saying the same thing and a key to the house," she looked at Henry, "so Henry can pick up any belongings he wants."

Henry seemed to be having trouble processing this information and looked at the table with a shamed expression, "is this because of me?"

Emma couldn't bring herself to tell him so she pulled up a chair and sat next to him, "no, this was about other people in Storybrooke. Your Mom thought it was for the best for her safety and mostly, for yours."

Henry nodded but remained unconvinced.

"Henry, can you go upstairs and get changed and then we'll head over to the house and pick up your things, okay?" Emma asked with a reassuring rub on his back.

He nodded and sombrely climbed the metal staircase up to the bedroom and Emma turned to face her parents. Once she heard the door close upstairs she said, "she was in a bad way, I've never seen her so.. broken."

"We can't be convinced it's not a trick," David said steadily.

"It wasn't a trick," Emma quickly replied, "you know all the stuff that's been happening with her, the vandalism of the garden, the apple tree at the town hall being cut down.." Emma turned around to make sure Henry wasn't behind her before turning back and whispering, "she thinks Henry hates her, she says there's no point in being here."

Mary Margaret nodded, "I saw her last week after the apple tree was destroyed she was just staring at the remains of it," she turned to David, "she loved that tree, I know it sounds odd but I saw her face and I knew then that she was just.. devastated. There was no anger, just sadness."

"There's another thing, but I don't want Henry to hear," Emma said, checking again that he wasn't eavesdropping, "she'd been attacked."

Mary Margaret gasped and covered her mouth in true fairy tale character style, which, considering she was a thief and murderer herself, Emma found slightly ironic.

"She had a black eye and a split lip and I think other injuries but she wasn't about to tell me anything," Emma said.

"Do you think she was really serious about not using magic, like she told Henry?" David asked with a frown.

"I don't think Regina would let anyone strike her if she had the ability to throw them across the lawn or turn them into a beetle," Emma pointed out.

"So, what now?" Mary Margaret asked.

"She suggested Henry gets his stuff from the house quickly, she thinks a mob will come and raid the place," Emma said with a shrug, "I want to look for evidence, if someone did attack Regina I want to find out who. Whether the victim is in town or not I don't want the person who did that walking free."

"I'll come with you," David nodded just as Henry started walking down the stairs again.

"Mom's phone number isn't working," Henry said as he held the cordless house phone in his hand, "it says it's been disconnected."

Emma felt her heart clench as she turned around and looked at his sad face, "she is getting a new one, she gave me her new number but I think we should let her settle in before we call, okay?"

Henry nodded and Emma and David stood up, "right, let's take the truck and get your stuff," David said as he put his hand across Henry's shoulder and led him from the apartment.

As Emma was about to leave she heard Mary Margaret call her name softly, she turned and looked at her mother with a questioning look.

"You spoke to her, do you really think she won't come back?" Mary Margaret asked with a forlorn frown.

"I think Regina thinks she's not coming back," Emma answered honestly.

Mary Margaret nodded slowly before heading to the kitchen to clear away some cups that had gathered in the sink.


	3. Chapter 3

David put the key in the lock and opened the door of 108 Mifflin Street, Henry bounded in and ran straight up to his room. Emma stepped into the hallway and looked around the large entrance hall with a distinctive feel that she was trespassing.

"Look at this," David said and Emma turned around to see he was crouching on the porch looking at the outside of the doorframe.

Emma poked her head out and looked down at where David was pointing, "is that blood?"

"Looks like it," David said with a sigh as he looked around the front garden before his eyes settled on a large branch that seemed to be haphazardly thrown under a hedge. He walked over and picked up the branch and turned it over in his hands until he found what he was looking for and nodded to Emma, "more blood."

He stepped back up onto the porch and looked at the branch which was about the size of a baseball bat in length and width, he then looked at the blood and nodded as he pieced the scene together.

"I think someone was stood here," he said as he stood to one side of the door, "Regina came to the door, she heard them and turned and they hit her with this," he re-enacted the blow in slow motion and pointed to where the blood still lay on the porch floor and splattered on the door frame. There wasn't much but it was enough to make Emma ball her fists in rage.

"The bastards," she muttered, "she wasn't doing anything, she was mourning her mother."

David nodded his understanding, "I'm not saying its right but there's a lot of unresolved hate for Regina's crimes. We'll find who did this.."

"I don't know," Emma sighed, "we don't exactly have the latest DNA technology at our disposal, hell we don't even have anything to lift prints!"

"Go check on Henry," David said, "I'm going to have a look around the garden and see what I can see."

Emma nodded and stepped into the hallway, deliberately avoiding making any eye contact with the smear of blood. The large dining table in front of her seemed untouched but when she looked into the front living room it looked like it had been destroyed. Emma took a hesitant step into the room to look at the upturned furniture to determine whether this was done by Regina or someone else.

"Mom," Henry called from upstairs and Emma left the lounge and quickly made her way up the stairs to find Henry in the upstairs hallway staring into one of the rooms.

"What is it?" Emma asked as she approached and looked into Regina's bedroom. She could see the wardrobe doors had been left open and were empty as were all the drawers in the room where Regina had packed all of her clothes and belongings and left the room in a hurry.

"She's really gone," he looked up at Emma is disbelief, "isn't she?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry, Kid," Emma said as Henry stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her waist. She returned the hug, "but we'll call her tomorrow, okay?"

She felt Henry nod before he leant back and looked up at Emma with worried eyes, "did you see downstairs?"

Emma nodded, "is anywhere else like that?"

Henry shrugged, "I only looked in my room and Mom's room.."

"Okay, go and pack the things you want to take with you, David is going to bring some boxes up in a minute. I'll check the other rooms," Emma said as she gently guided Henry into his room, she wasn't keen to hang around in the house any longer than she had to.

She quickly checked the other rooms upstairs and nothing seemed too out of place, there was evidence that Regina had packed her belongings but it didn't seem like anyone else had been in the rooms. She walked back into the master bedroom and had a look around, she'd often seen scenes like this when people had jumped bail and left town. Truth be told Emma had often left scenes like this when she had skipped town for whatever reason. But somehow it seemed different to know it was Regina who had run this time, the normally cool and collected woman didn't seem like the kind of person to leave her problems behind but more likely face them head on.

David hesitantly stepped into the room, charmingly averting his eyes from the unmade bed, "I dropped some boxes off for Henry, he's packing his things now.."

"Great," Emma said as she walked over to look out of the window, picturing Regina stood in that exact position in the past, "anything in the garden?"

"Nothing of much note, torn up flowerbeds, a broken fence panel.." David said with a shrug. Once we drop Henry off at the apartment I'm going to go door to door and see if anyone saw anything.

Emma sighed, "think they will say anything even if they did?"

"They will after I've spoken to them," David said with finality that told Emma he still regarded himself as one of the leaders of the community.

"I'm done," Henry said from the hallway and Emma crossed the room to join him, "already?" Emma asked.

"Yeah, Mom had already packed most of my stuff, she left me a note," he said with a sad smile.

"Oh," Emma said and bit her lip, she wanted to know the contents but she knew she had no right.

"I haven't read it yet," Henry said and trudged into his room. Emma followed him and could see that Regina had meticulously packed Henry's clothes into three large suitcases which were stacked neatly in front of his wardrobe. A few other boxes contained his personal belongings, books and comics and were neatly labelled in Regina's flowing script. The bed was stripped and the bedding was neatly folded at the foot of the bed and Henry picked up two of the boxes David had provided which were chaotically packed.

David stepped into the room and picked up two of the suitcases to take to the pickup and Emma looked at the boxes that Henry had packed himself, "what have you got in these?"

"Photo albums and some things.." Henry hastily put a lid on one of the boxes to hide something and Emma grinned, "was that a teddy bear?"

"Yeah," Henry mumbled and then said something else that Emma didn't catch.

"What was that?" Emma frowned.

Henry sighed, "Mom made them for me.."

Emma blinked, that she hadn't expected, "she made them? Like she sewed them?"

"Yeah," Henry nodded, "I loved cuddly toys when I was a kid but there are no stores here that do them so.. she made them for me.."

No matter how hard Emma tried she couldn't imagine the Evil Queen sewing bunny rabbit cuddly toys in her spare time.

"She probably didn't pack them because she thinks I'm too old for them," Henry muttered as he picked up a few more cuddly toys and put them in a box.

Emma knew that the truth of the matter was that Regina hadn't packed them because she had made them and thought that Henry wouldn't want them for that very reason. The same way she hadn't packed any of his photo albums.

"You're never too old for cuddly toys," Emma said honestly, "just look at Mary Margaret!"

Half an hour later David and Emma had packed the pickup truck with Henry's belongings and the three of them stood on the porch as David closed and locked the door.

"What will happen to the house?" Henry asked, "will the next Mayor live here?"

"No," David shook his head, "the house is legally owned by Regina, it's not town property."

"Good," Henry said, "I don't want anyone else living here."

Emma and David shared a look, they both knew that the house was under threat now no one was living there. Destroying Regina's prized possessions was becoming a theme around Storybrooke and the house would be no different.

"Let's go, Kid," Emma said and put her arm around Henry's shoulder, she wanted to change the subject and was keen to get away from the house. She couldn't help but feel suffocated by the weight of her feelings while she stood where she had stood a hundred times before but now it was so different. It felt so wrong.


	4. Chapter 4

"Are you really sure you want to do this?" David asked with a sigh.

"Yep," Emma said simply as she fluffed up the pillow as much as she could.

"There are other ways to protect the house, Emma," David said with a shake of his head. Sometimes he really didn't understand his stubborn daughter and her methods at all.

Emma unzipped the sleeping bag which lay on the cold porch in front of the locked door to 108 Mifflin Street and began to unlace her boots, "this is Henry's house now," Emma said firmly as she stood on one foot to remove the first book, "I want everyone to know that and know that this place is off limits."

"Then sleep inside the house!" David said with exasperation.

"No, I want them to see me," Emma shook her head as she pulled off the other boot.

"Then.." David looked around before seeing the yellow bug, "sleep in the car!"

"No, I'll fall asleep," Emma said as she slid into the sleeping back and pulled the material up around her, "this way they see me when they come up the path. And, more importantly," she said with a steely gaze, "I see them."

David threw his hands in the air, he had been trying to talk sense into Emma for the past two hours ever since she brought up the crazy idea. Mary Margaret had said that Emma was feeling guilty about Regina's leaving and Emma wanted to feel practical and like she was actively doing something useful and this was her way of showing it.

He ran his hand through his short blonde hair, "okay, but if anything happens or you need anything then you call me straight away?"

Emma pulled on a thick multi-coloured woollen hat that Mary Margaret had knitted for her and nodded, "I will," she nodded before adding, "thanks David.."

He shook his head with a lopsided smile and muttered something about stubborn and mother and walked back to his truck. He looked up at her one last time before shaking his head again and driving off.

The first hour went by pretty quickly and Emma kept herself entertained with apps on her phone but after a while her neck started to ache and she began to feel the cold at her fingers. She put the phone away and looked out at the street, willing something to happen. But it was as quiet as it had been all day, an eerie calm had descended over the town once the news got out about Regina's departure. As per usual, most people thought it was another trick and were waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Henry had kept very quiet earlier that evening as he unpacked some of his belongings into the bedroom he shared with Emma. The arrival of his belongings had well and truly signalled to Emma what cramped living space they were dealing with and she vowed to look for a new place to live first thing in the morning.

Henry had asked her if he could call Regina before he went to bed and Emma had convinced him to let his Mom settle in after long days driving. The truth was that Emma wanted to try the number Regina had given her first, she knew Regina wanted to vanish and having had so much experience of disappearing herself she was very versed in the old fake number con.

She pulled her phone out again and looked at the number Regina had provided her with. She hadn't called it because she was scared, scared to find out if it was a dud number but also scared that it was real and that she would have to speak with Regina. She took a deep breath and pressed the dial button and held the phone to her ear. She heard the dial tone and she waited in anticipation with her heart practically beating out of her chest.

"Regina Mills," the older woman casually answered and Emma let out the breath she hadn't known she had been holding.

"Hi," Emma whispered with a smile.

"Miss Swan," Regina sighed and paused before asking, "a little late for a phone call?"

Emma looked at her watch, it was coming up to midnight, "I just wanted to check you got there okay and were settling in."

"Yes, on both counts," Regina said with a bored tone as she clearly wondered why she was having a sociable conversation with the blonde.

"Good," Emma said with a smile as she forced the conversation along, "Henry misses you."

There was a small pause and then Regina spoke, "he'll get over it soon, he doesn't like change."

"No, he doesn't," Emma agreed, "but I don't think he'll get over it soon either. He wanted to speak with you tonight, I said you needed some time.. can he call you tomorrow?"

Another pause and then, "do you think that's wise? Maybe it is best to make a clean break?"

"You're not breaking up with a man, Regina," Emma sighed, "you'll see him again, you'll remain in each other's lives.." she then paused as she realised something, "won't you?"

"That's up to Henry," Regina muttered before her tone turned a little frosty, "I do hope you're not having this conversation with him in the same room, he often pretends to be asleep when he isn't.."

"I know," Emma sighed, "I'm not at the apartment.."

"Then where are you?" Regina asked the question without thinking.

Emma laughed softly, "I'm actually sleeping on your porch, Mifflin Street, I mean.."

There was a long pause and Emma could just see Regina's confused face contorting as she struggled with an answer, "the phone lines in Boston must be substandard because I thought you said you were sleeping on the porch of my old house.."

"Yup," Emma said, "I'm protecting it from the rabble in case they come tonight."

"Why on earth would you do that?" Regina asked in complete shock.

Emma shrugged despite Regina not being there, "it seemed like the right thing to do."

"You're an idiot," Regina quickly followed up with a sigh.

"Regina?" Emma asked quietly.

"Yes, Miss Swan?" Regina said with a sigh.

"I'm sorry I couldn't protect you.." Emma whispered.

Silence lingered and Emma didn't really know what she expected Regina to say to that after a while Regina finally spoke, "have Henry call me tomorrow evening, after dinner.."

"Okay.." Emma started.

"Goodnight, Miss Swan," Regina cut her off before quickly disconnecting the call.

It was three o'clock in the morning when someone finally crept up the path to 108 Mifflin Street. If she hadn't been so angry Emma would have laughed at the confused expression on Prince Stefan's, formally Stephen Matthews, face as he saw an empty sleeping bag in front of the door. He held a crowbar in his hand and Emma appeared from behind one of the large white pillars and arrested him on the spot, accidentally fastening the handcuffs a little too tightly and accidentally cracking his head on the roof of the car as she piled him into her yellow Bug.

Half an hour later she had taken Stefan to the Sheriff's office and got him into booked in and locked up and returned to the apartment for some sleep. As she snuck in the door she saw David sitting at the dining table with a cup of hot coffee, obviously waiting for her to return.

Emma gave him a small smile, "you stayed up?"

"You're my daughter," was all the answer he needed to give, "you got them, then?"

"Matthews.. Stefan.. whatever," Emma said with a glance over to the bed which was empty.

David followed her gaze and answered her unasked question, "Mary Margaret is with Henry, he woke up a few times in the night."

Emma paled and swallowed, she'd known that leaving Henry that night wasn't the best timing but she desperately wanted to protect the house for him as well. She couldn't stand the thought of him seeing the house wrecked in some way.

"I spoke to Regina," Emma admitted and David raised an eyebrow, "and?"

"Henry can call her tomorrow, after dinner," Emma said as she flopped into a chair opposite David, "but I don't want to tell Henry until the time comes, I don't want him to build it up."

David nodded his understanding, "we better get some rest if we're going to be questioning Stefan in the morning, you take the bed and I'll crash on the couch."


	5. Chapter 5

Mary Margaret made an extra effort with dinner that evening and made Henry's favourite meal, homemade pizza. David shared several humorous stories about his day at the Sheriff's office and then later at the animal shelter that were all obviously embellished to cheer Henry up. After dinner Henry helped to clear the plates away and as he was drying the last dinner plate Emma stood beside him and leant on the counter, "I spoke with your Mom earlier," she said and Henry looked up at her with excitement.

"Can I speak to her?" he asked immediately.

"Yeah," Emma nodded, "she's expecting your call."

Henry beamed happily and Emma took her mobile phone and set the number up and handed it to Henry to hit the green button, "take as long as you need but can you let her know I'd like to speak with her when you're done?"

Henry nodded and took the phone like it was a precious jewel and pressed the button and anxiously held the device to his ear. A few moments later he beamed again as he cried, "Mom!"

Mary Margaret and David shared a smile as Henry ran up the stairs with the phone to his ear. Emma took a deep breath and poured herself another glass of wine and sat at the dining room table with a sigh.

"What happened with Stefan?" Mary Margaret asked now that Henry was occupied.

"He denied everything," David said with a laugh.

"And then searched his house," Emma said before taking another sip of wine.

"And then we found a chainsaw, recently used, in his garage," David continued.

"And suddenly he remembered that he'd chopped down the apple tree but he denied everything else," Emma rolled her eyes.

"But we charged him on destruction of public property," David said with a nod, "so that's good."

"I'd rather charge him on assault," Emma pointed out.

"Not much we can do if Regina won't press charges," David said and Mary Margaret got the impression that they had had the conversation a few times that day.

Mary Margaret attempted to diffuse the conversation with a cutesy tale about one of the classes at the school that day. Emma instantly tuned out and let her mind wander to more pressing matters like where she and Henry would live and how she would cope with being a single parent. Regina's letter had included bank details for an account in Emma and Henry's names to cover Henry's expenses. Emma had looked at the balance of the account at the ATM outside the bank and she'd nearly choked on her coffee at the figure.

Part of her felt like she didn't want the money, that she would do things her own way like she always had done before. But then she also knew that Henry was a fast growing boy and would need new clothes on a pretty constant basis for the next ten years. Then there was allowance money, school uniforms, school trips, food bills, a bigger apartment, provision for a college fund, the list was endless. As much as Emma didn't want to touch that money she knew she'd have to eventually as there was no way she could give Henry everything he needed, everything he had become accustomed to, on her Sheriff's salary.

When Emma was in the foster system she used to dream of the life Henry had, a safe home, a parent who loved unconditionally, never having to want nor worry. If Emma was honest she hadn't really appreciated what a good mother Regina had been to Henry for all those years. Like everyone else she had been tainted by the image of the Evil Queen and had forgotten that Regina was a mother to her son. And no matter what had happened she had always looked out for Henry, even when he pulled away from her. Even now, she was leaving to protect Henry in case her enemies opted for an easier target.

Emma was determined to give Henry a happy life, she loved him more than she knew was possible and she was prepared to give up anything for him. But she knew that Regina brought Henry up for the first 11 years of his life and it would be almost impossible for Henry to ignore that fact. Emma hoped that Regina would see the light and come back to Storybrooke, or would at least make provisions to spend actual time with him rather than being a distant memory who sends the occasional birthday card.

"Mom?" Henry said, shaking her from her thoughts, "for you," he said handing her the phone. She realised that she must have been sat daydreaming for quite some time shook her head and grabbed the phone.

"Hi," she said simply as she made her way up the stairs and into the bedroom for some privacy.

"Hi," Regina replied, she sounded emotional.

"So, I wanted to let you know we got Stefan," Emma said with a grim smile, she knew it was too late but she wanted Regina to know that she'd eventually stepped up and done her job.

There was a pause on the line, "I see," Regina eventually said distractedly.

Emma frowned, "h-he was the one that attacked you, wasn't he?"

During questioning she had looked into Stefan's eyes as she asked him if he had hurt Regina and when he said no her superpower had pinged and she knew he was lying.

"Does it matter?" Regina asked.

"It does to me," Emma said firmly, "I still live here, your son still lives here, I don't want someone like that walking freely around the town. So, cut the crap and just tell me if it was Stefan."

"Stefan was one of them," Regina replied.

"One of them," Emma repeated as she raised her eyebrows.

"Yes," Regina answered with a bored tone, "it would depend which incident you're referring to. But really, must I do the Sheriff's job for her?"

"How am I supposed to get information if you won't tell me?" Emma replied angrily.

"Oh I don't know, why don't you hold a dream catcher over a dog, that's worked so well in the past!" Regina shot back.

Emma was about to reply when Regina continued, "or you could just look at the security camera footage from the house, whichever you prefer."

"There are security cameras? At the house?" Emma asked blankly.

"Of course," Regina sighed, "do you have any law enforcement qualification at all? I suppose it doesn't matter now, not for me anyway."

Emma sat on the bed and silently counted to ten, the woman was truly infuriating but she didn't want to give Regina the satisfaction of knowing that.

"So, how's Boston?" Emma said with forced civility.

"Loud," Regina replied softly, "but generally pleasant. I am going out to dinner soon, now I am no longer subjected to Granny's deep-fried repertoire."

Emma smiled, "just.. you know.. be safe, yeah?"

She could hear Regina's eye roll, "I'm quite adept at living in the big city, Miss Swan, don't you worry."

"I'm sure you are but," Emma decided to be honest, "I just want you to be safe."

Regina didn't seem to know what to reply to that, "yes, well.. I.." she seemed to be recalling something she wanted to say, "I have agreed to keep in touch with Henry through his online messaging software, just so you know."

"Okay, will you still call?" Emma asked, not sure if she was asking for Henry's benefit or for her own.

"I shall," Regina said, "now, is there anything else?"

The words 'come home' died on Emma's lips as she replied, "no, nothing else. Enjoy your dinner.. Goodnight, Regina."

"Goodnight, Emma."

Emma smiled, she didn't know if Regina had slipped up and had meant to call her Miss Swan but she decided to assume she'd been given an upgrade to first name terms. Regina had hung up the call and Emma took a deep breath before heading downstairs, as she was on the stairs she could hear Henry talking to his grandparents.

"It's like talking but in words, on the computer," he said as if their roles had somehow been reversed and he was an adult speaking to children.

They were all sat at the dining room table and gathered around Henry's laptop as he pointed at the screen, "so that's a chat window and I type here and the other person will type there."

Mary Margaret looked impressed and David looked unsure as he asked, "can they see you?"

"No, only if you have your webcam enabled but Mom set this laptop up for me so it won't work," he rolled his eyes at his adoptive mother's ever present safety junkie behaviour.

"What you doing, Kid?" Emma asked.

"Mom said we can talk online, she said it will be easier and I can leave messages for her and stuff," Henry said with excitement.

"Cool," Emma smiled, "did she say anything else?"

"Yeah, she said she wasn't coming back but that it's not my fault," Henry said but it somehow sounded stilted and simply like he was repeating something he'd been told.

"And how do you feel about that?" Mary Margaret asked in an attempt as casual that sounded like she had been reading a book written by Doctor Archibald Hopper.

Henry shrugged, "I dunno, I miss her," he said and looked up at Emma and his grandparents, "but I love you guys."

"It's okay to miss her," Emma said quickly, "it doesn't mean you love us any differently, she is your Mom, she raised you since you were a baby so you're obviously going to miss her."

Henry nodded, "Mom said I'll miss her a lot at the beginning but later it will get easier."

"It will get easier, but that doesn't mean you're gonna miss her any less, or love her any less," Emma added.

"Mom's just added me!" Henry said with excitement as a window popped up on his screen. Mary Margaret looked at the screen and started asking Henry some questions and Emma looked at David and inclined her head towards the kitchen. He looked at her and smiled. She sighed and stared pointedly at him before tilting her head more violently towards the kitchen. That time he got it and he stood up and walked into the kitchen with Emma.

"Regina has security cameras at the house," Emma whispered, "I'm going to go over there and see what I can find but I don't want Henry to know.."

David nodded his understanding and Emma walked over to the coat rack and grabbed her keys and her coat, "just remembered I've left something at the station, I'll be back in a while," she threw over her shoulder and smiled at Henry who nodded back at her with a smile of his own.


	6. Chapter 6

"Another one," Emma said to the bartender in the Rabbit Hole bar as she held up her empty glass tumbler. He nodded and approached with a bottle of golden liquid and poured it into the glass, "thanks," she mumbled.

She picked up the glass and swirled it around as she drifted back into her thoughts. It had been six weeks since Regina had left to set up her new life in Boston. She often thought back to that day when she had seen Regina packing up her vintage Mercedes, she wondered what she could have done differently, if there was anything she could have said or done to make her stay.

Emma knew that was selfish of her, Regina wasn't happy in Storybrooke. She had fallen into a deep depression that became worse after the townsfolk turned on her and Henry had pulled away from her. She'd relived scenes over and over in her head between Regina and Henry where she had just stood idly by and watched when now she knew she should have gotten involved, should have said something. The times that Henry had screamed at Regina that she was a monster and that he couldn't love a monster were now haunting Emma as she wondered why she didn't stop him. Did she want Henry's love for herself? Did she want Regina to suffer? She didn't know. But she knew she regretted it.

Over the last few weeks Emma had suffered nightmares where she was on the receiving end of Henry's rants. It was awful watching the person she loved more than anyone else rail at her while Regina stood by, smug and silent, watching the destruction of a relationship without stepping in. It was a recurring dream and Emma didn't need to go and see Archie to understand that her subconscious was responding to her guilt for her failure to act.

Failure to act at all. After the conversation with Regina where she revealed the presence of security cameras at the house Emma had quickly located the internal and external devices and located a computerised system in the basement that had recorded around the house surveillance for the last several months.

When she finally had time alone to comb through the videos she had smiled at the homely scenes she had found. Regina would be going about her everyday life, cooking and cleaning, making food, packing school lunches for Henry. Then there was the day that Henry vanished, a distraught Regina had paced the downstairs of the house like a caged animal for hours until Henry returned. Emma fast forwarded through her own arrival and the times that Graham would manhandle Regina in the hallway with rough kisses before they headed upstairs and away from the cameras.

Emma watched weeks go by in seconds. The curse breaking. A mob appearing outside, Whale holding Regina by the neck and Emma running to her rescue. Henry leaving, then to return, then David kicking the door down and threatening Regina with a sword to the throat. Henry leaving. Regina crying. Regina alone. Was this when Emma and Mary Margaret were lost in the Enchanted Forest? More time passes. Cora appears. Regina cries. Henry and Regina have a stand-off in the garden.

Then Regina retreats into herself, she no longer cleans, she no longer cooks. A brick comes through the window. She sleeps downstairs. Outside a mob gathers and she disappears upstairs. Despite knowing the outcome the tension Emma feels while watching is unbearable and she fast forwards through another scene with her playing the rescuer.

Another mob appear, they break in through the back door this time, taking Regina by surprise. A fight ensues in the living room, furniture is destroyed, projectiles hit both parties and Emma writes down names of the people she sees. A knock on the door, Mary Margaret, everyone freezes. The attackers slip out the back door and Regina cries while Mary Margaret hammers on the door. Days pass, minor vandalism takes place, Regina avoids the destroyed living room and now sleeps in her downstairs office.

In a corner of the garden Stefan appears and disappears, Emma sits up and focuses on that camera and catches another body but can't make out who it is. A while later Moe French, Belle's father, appears in another shot followed by Marco, Geppetto. The three creep around the house, looking in windows as they go. Moe has the branch and Emma already knows how it goes down but she can't tear her eyes away from the screen. Moe and Stefan stand out of side of the front door and Marco rings the doorbell. Inside Regina looks through the window and sees a harmless old man wringing his hands. She opens the door, steps out and in a second Stefan has slammed the solid branch across her face and she falls to the floor. Moe stands over her and punches her in the face so hard Emma flinches in horror. Stefan kicks her and then the three of them turn, something has distracted them.

Belle. Emma has never been more relieved to see the woman. Or more annoyed that she had lied when Emma had asked if she knew anything. Marco needs no convincing and looks at Regina's bloodied face and runs. Belle is crying, Moe is pleading with her. The three leave but not before Stefan spits in Regina's face.

It's the middle of the day. Regina is beaten on her doorstep in the middle of the day. She doesn't move for, Emma counts them, eleven minutes. She slowly gets to her feet and shakily pulls herself through the front door and closes it shut behind her.

She downs the drink in one, "another one," she orders the bartender and he again fills her empty glass.

It's been six weeks since Regina left. Emma had charged Stefan and Moe and cautioned Marco. She went out of her way to make an example of the three men and she had Mary Margaret and David spread the word of Regina's redemption and beating. She wanted these people to know that she had seen the proof that Regina was not up to anything, she was grieving the loss of her mother when the town had turned on her.

If anyone was stupid enough to disagree they hadn't bothered to say anything. In fact most people had grown to miss her, maybe not Regina Mills but certainly Mayor Mills. Since she left it had become clear that no one knew how to run a town and things went to hell within the first few days. A few people had tried to take her place, Granny and then Mary Margaret were the first and both quickly announced that it was not a job for one woman but would need an army of people. So a committee was put together and they spent most of the time arguing over inconsequential matters and again nothing got done.

Gold attempted to stand for Mayor but it quickly became clear that people would rather go back to the dark ages than have the Dark One administer the town. Eventually the Blue Fairy had stepped forward as an interim solution and Emma was convinced she was frequently using magic to keep on top of the daily crises.

Henry kept in communication with Regina and he relayed messages to Emma. She seemed happy with her new life in Boston, she spoke of a new best friend called Skye and she was running a popular cookery class. Henry couldn't understand why she wouldn't want to come back, he told her how things had improved and how people often talked about her coming home like it would be a good thing. But Regina wasn't interested, swept up in her new happy ending where no one knew who she really was.

Emma downed her drink again, "another one," she said as she waved her empty glass at the bartender but instead of pouring more liquid in her glass he looked over her head with a frown. She turned around and saw Mary Margaret looking at her with folded arms and an unimpressed expression on her face.

"Busted," Emma giggled to herself.

"Oh, Emma," Mary Margaret sighed, "let's get you home.."

The brunette threw some money on the bar to cover Emma's tab and helped the blonde off of the stool and helped her out of the door and into the warm summer evening air.

"I'm not that drunk, you know," Emma smiled at the way Mary Margaret held onto Emma's arm as if expecting her to fall over any second now.

"Hmm," Mary Margaret said as they walked down the street towards the apartment where David was watching Henry.

"Oh, come on, out with it," Emma sighed.

Mary Margaret took a deep breath before saying, "I think you and Henry should go and see Regina."

"What?" Emma asked in confusion, "you, of all people, want me to take your grandson to the Evil Queen?"

"You know I don't think of Regina in that way anymore," Mary Margaret said softly, "both of you miss her.."

"You think I miss her?" Emma interrupted, "are you out of your mind?"

Mary Margaret stopped in front of Emma, "Emma, stop.. you.. you spend all of your time on this.. this pro-Regina PR campaign around town, you caught the people who attacked her and made sure that justice was done, you are always hovering over Henry's shoulder when he is using the computer to talk to Regina, you always ask how she is doing. You even planted a new apple tree outside the town hall!"

"It's the town emblem," Emma said as she pointed to a logo on a waste bin, "see? Apple tree, not a hacked up stump."

"You feel guilty that you didn't protect Regina when she needed you, because you're a good person, you need closure," Mary Margaret explained.

"Oh my God, have you been speaking to Archie?" Emma threw her arms up and turned around to storm away.

"He makes some very good points," Mary Margaret said as she walked after Emma.

"Oh God," Emma repeated, "seriously?"

Mary Margaret hurried around the blonde and stood in front of her again to stop her, "look, I don't know what's going on but I think you need to see Regina, with your own eyes, know that she is okay and talk it out.."

"I don't.." Emma started.

"But!" Mary Margaret interrupted, "if you don't agree with that, you have to agree that Henry is missing his mother and deserves to see her. I know Regina is stubborn and she is still convinced that Henry is just being polite and doesn't really miss her as much as he says he does. That's why she is having these.. gone-line.. conversations!"

"Online," Emma corrected with a sigh.

"Whatever," Mary Margaret waved away the word, "she doesn't want to speak to Henry because she knows that will upset her and she'll cave, or cry, or something. Keeping it in text means she can distance herself, which has been her strategy all along. But, Emma, you know it's eating Henry up inside. He needs to see her, spend some time with her."

"She'll never agree," Emma said in a whisper.

"Oh, like you ever asked Regina's permission first," Mary Margaret said.

Emma laughed, "true.."

"And summer break is coming up, maybe you guys just fancied a vacation? Regina doesn't have the monopoly on Boston, you just happen to be in the same city.."

At Emma's thoughtful, distant look Mary Margaret shrugged lightly and took Emma's arm again, "let's get you home.."

Two days had passed and Emma was waiting in the police cruiser to pick Henry up from the last day of school. She took a sip of her coffee and smiled as she watched excited kids running out from the school gates, ecstatic to be out of school for seven whole weeks. The older kids were hugging each other like they had just returned from war and had somehow survived, promising to stay in touch.

It was then Emma saw Henry drift out of the school gates with his ever-present backpack on and his eyes cast down to the ground. A couple of kids waved goodbye to him and he smiled back but it was half-hearted at best. He was about to walk towards the bus when he saw Emma's car and made his way towards her instead. He opened the door and threw his bag into the foot well of the passenger seat, "hey.." he mumbled.

"Wow," Emma rolled her eyes, "is that all I get?"

Henry shrugged, "why are you picking me up?"

"Because it's your last day of school and you get a bunch of time off and its exciting and cool and.. I thought you might be happy!" Emma said as she started the engine with a small laugh.

"I guess," Henry said with a sigh, "I just dunno what we're going to do.."

Emma bit her lip and looked at her son, it had been six and a half weeks since Regina had left and Henry was getting more depressed all the time. She knew it wouldn't be easy for him but she did think that as time went on he would become more accepting of the separation but if anything he was becoming more withdrawn.

Emma had been thinking about what Mary Margaret said and while she knew Regina would be annoyed at them just turning up out of the blue she also knew that the older woman would try to stop them from visiting, or go out of town herself if she knew they were coming. A surprise visit was the only way to bring them all together and Emma would deal with the fallout from that after. Seeing Henry so miserable reinforced her resolve and she shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know about you.. but I was thinking of going to Boston for a week.."

Henry's eyes lit up, "really?! When? Are we seeing Mom?"

Emma laughed, "yes, we leave tomorrow and.. yeah, of course we're seeing your Mom but you can't say anything to her, it's going to be a surprise, okay?"

The long absent smile on Henry's face returned and he nodded his understanding, "cool, it's going to be awesome!"

Emma shifted the car into drive and nodded her head, "yeah, it is," she agreed but in her head she knew Regina was going to kill her and thought herself lucky that magic was confined to Storybrooke.


	7. Chapter 7

Henry rushed into the hotel room with barely contained excitement and bounced on one of the two double beds in the large room. Emma pulled a large suitcase and a duffle bag in behind her and kicked the door closed as she put the room key down on the table and sighed. It had been a long drive and as she arrived in Boston she began to wonder if it really was the best idea to surprise Regina like this. She kind of knew it was the only way she'd get the other woman to agree but she still felt a bit off about doing it.

"This is great," Henry said and Emma had to remind herself that Henry had barely been out of Storybrooke. He jumped off of the bed and started to explore the room and Emma looked out of the window of the hotel room to check out the view.

Being in Storybrooke for so long had caused her to forget how big Boston was, she looked out at the historic buildings that stretched for as far as she could see. They were staying in Back Bay, a fifteen minute walk from Regina's apartment and Emma knew she couldn't stall much longer and that she'd have to soon call Regina and let her know where they were.

"What's this?" Henry said from behind her holding a shower cap between his thumb and forefinger.

"It's a shower cap," Emma explained and put it on Henry's head, "so you can shower without getting your hair wet."

Henry laughed and pulled the elasticated bag off of his head, "why would I want to do that?"

Emma rolled her eyes, "you're such a guy.. I just remembered something I have to in reception, stay here and play your game and I'll be back in a couple of minutes."

Henry pinged the shower cap across the room, "okay," he answered as he opened his rucksack and started digging through the crammed bag. He'd insisted on bringing everything, including all of his school reports to show his Mom.

Emma picked the key up and turned to Henry, "we're not in Storybrooke anymore so don't answer the door to anyone, got it?"

"Got it," Henry smiled and she nodded and stepped into the hallway, ensuring the door was fully closed behind her before walking towards the stairwell she had seen when they had arrived. She opened the heavy fire door and sat on the concrete stairs and stared at her mobile phone screen. She'd been debating how to tackle this call during the drive from Storybrooke and she was still no closer to a decision. So she did what she always did when faced with a difficult situation, she dived straight in head first. She pushed the button to ring Regina and put the phone to her ear and waited.

After a few rings Regina's rich voice spoke, "Miss Swan, is everything all right?"

"Yes," Emma smiled, "no problems.. er, how are you?"

"What is it?" Regina immediately asked, knowing that something was up.

"Well, the, er, the thing is.. we're, Henry and I.. we're, well, we're kinda in Boston. Like, now," Emma said and winced as she waited for Regina's rage.

There was silence for a while before Regina spoke again, "you're.. here?"

"Yes, I'm sorry, I should have said something but it was a last minute decision and we wanted to surprise you," Emma explained as she got to her feet and paced the step she had been sat on.

"Oh," Regina said simply, still processing the news.

"So," Emma said after it appeared Regina was truly stuck for words, "can we.. can Henry see you? Soon?"

"Yes, yes, of course, erm," Regina stammered and Emma smiled at the usually so together woman suddenly being on the back foot, "I had dinner plans with Skye tonight but I can cancel, there's a restaurant I think Henry would love to try. Do you like Japanese food?"

"Yeah, sure," Emma was pleased she'd been invited as well, "where and when?"

"I'll book a table and I'll text you the details," Regina said.

"Great, looking forward to it," Emma smiled.

"See you both this evening," Regina said as she disconnected the call.

Emma flopped back onto the step and let out a long breath, relieved that it had gone better than she had expected. She quickly dialled another number and held the phone to her ear as she waited for the panicked tones of her mother to answer.

"Emma? Are you okay? Are you in Boston? Is everything okay?" Mary Margaret released in one breath.

"Everything is fine, we're in Boston, I just wanted to let you know we've arrived," Emma smiled, she'd never had an overprotective mother and there was something kind of cute about it.

"Oh thank goodness," Mary Margaret replied with palpable relief, "have you.. have you spoken to Regina?"

"Yeah, just spoke to her, we're meeting for dinner tonight," Emma said as she stared at her boots.

"Oh good, and.. are you going to talk to her?" Mary Margaret pushed.

"Well, yeah, I'm not going to eat in silence," Emma laughed.

"No, I mean, really talk to her.."

"I think tonight I'll just leave her and Henry to catch up," Emma said. She knew Mary Margaret was keen for Emma to tell Regina how Storybrooke had changed, to explain about the prosecutions for the attacks and to convince Regina to come home.

Emma hadn't quite grasped why Mary Margaret was so keen for her arch nemesis to come back to town, she wondered if she was still distrustful of Regina. Emma had considered that her parents wanted to keep an eye on Regina or maybe didn't want her gallivanting off in a new world that they didn't have access to nor understand.

But then Emma realised this was Snow White and Prince Charming and, despite everything, in their heart of hearts, they were good. They had given Regina more chances than she could count and even when the town started to turn against the former Mayor her parents had tried to calm the mood. Mary Margaret had been utterly devastated at her actions towards Regina and Cora and David often told Henry that he thought, and hoped, Regina would return soon.

"Okay, but you will talk to her?" Mary Margaret pushed again.

"Yeah, I will talk to her, just not tonight," Emma promised, "I've gotta get back to Henry, I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Okay, we miss you," Mary Margaret said sweetly.

"We miss you guys too," Emma grinned happily, "bye.."

"Bye, Emma," Mary Margaret said as she hung up.

David stood beside her, "is everything okay?"

"Yes, she's seeing Regina tonight and she promises she'll talk to her soon," Mary Margaret relayed.

David nodded, "I hope Regina will see sense and come back."

"I hope Emma sees sense," Mary Margaret sighed as she flopped down onto the sofa.

"I don't think that's our daughter's strong point," David laughed as he took a seat next to her, "for someone who's job is to be observant.. she can be pretty blind sometimes."

Mary Margaret smacked his arm with a gentle smile, "and like we weren't exactly the same? She'll get there in the end, she'll see Regina and she'll realise that she's missed her and then she'll put the pieces together."

David nodded with a frown etched onto his face.

"What's wrong?" Mary Margaret asked.

"I just didn't think we'd ever be setting our daughter up with the Evil Queen," David let out a small chuckle.

"Neither did I," Mary Margaret shook her head softly, "but you've seen what Emma's been like these past few weeks. At first I thought it was guilt that she didn't manage to protect Regina.."

"But then there's that look on her face," David continued.

"Something's missing," Mary Margaret nodded.

"Are you ready to welcome Regina back into your family?" David asked his wife seriously.

"I've never not wanted Regina to be a part of my family," Mary Margaret said purely, "it was the Evil Queen that I wanted gone. Rumplestiltskin manipulated and moulded Regina into that.. that monster.. and since we've been here, since the curse was broken, I've seen glimpses of the Regina I used to know."

"It kinda makes sense when you think about it," David leaned back and wrapped an arm around his wife, "the Saviour and the Evil Queen.."

"Yes," Mary Margaret smiled, "if Emma can make this into a happy ending then I think that will grant everyone a happy ending."


	8. Chapter 8

Emma and Henry had arrived in the restaurant ten minutes early, supposedly because it was closer to the hotel than Emma had anticipated and they're museum tour ended earlier than expected. But the real reason was because Emma had hoped that Regina would be there early too and that would allow for them to have more time together. For Henry's sake at all.

Still it was a good idea to get there early because ten minutes had passed and Henry was still amazed that restaurants existed where a conveyor belt of food ran constantly past your face. Emma held the menu in her hand and attempted to identify plates of food as they went around the track, often by the time she could identify a plate it had moved on and she was tasked with a new plate. Henry would describe it and Emma would search through the pages of the menu, it was a system, an unsuccessful system.

"Four little rolls, black on the outside with," Henry stood up to get a better look, "pink inside and a bit of green.."

"Okay," Emma said as she flipped to the front of the menu as she glanced at the plate, "that is maki and it would be.. salmon? No.. prawn, prawn with chive."

"What about this?" Henry pointed to another plate that was approaching.

"Is that prawn?" Emma said as she looked at the bread crumbed items, "yeah, that's prawn with.." Katsu? Katsu curry? One of them.."

"What's that?" Henry frowned at the next plate.

"No idea," Emma said as she made a face at the breaded unidentifiable mess that passed by.

"Pumpkin Korroke, you'd like it," Regina said and both Emma and Henry spun around to see the brunette standing at the end of the booth.

"Mom!" Henry cried and quickly bounced to the end of the booth and threw himself at her and nearly knocked her over.

She quickly balanced herself and wrapped her arms around him, "Henry," she whispered as she closed her eyes and balanced her chin on his head as she basked in the embrace. After a while she opened her eyes and made eye contact with Emma and the two women gave each other a small smile.

Regina tried to end the hug but Henry held on to her tighter and Regina looked surprised and stroked his back softly, "I've missed you," she whispered into his hair.

After a few more moments Henry let go and took a small step backwards but didn't look up as he didn't want Regina to see the tears in his eyes. Regina could sense his embarrassment and turned her attention to Emma, "are you enjoying Boston, Emma?"

"Yeah, we went to a museum," Emma said as Henry shuffled back into the booth and sat down opposite Emma and next to the conveyor belt of food, "which was good, we only got here today."

"I see," Regina said as she placed her handbag under the table and sat next to Henry, "and how long as you staying for?"

"We're here for the week, we leave next Sunday," Emma said as she subtlety looked at Henry to check he was okay.

Henry turned to look at Regina, "can I see you again soon?"

Regina smiled, "you haven't even finished seeing me tonight, you may be fed up with me by the evening," she joked.

Henry smiled but shook his head, "no, I want to show you my school report and my art homework and I finally got to level 26 on my game and I saved the boss level because we do that together."

Regina blushed at the enthusiasm flooding from Henry, "we'll arrange something," she said with a small nod.

"Can I see you tomorrow? Can we spend the day together tomorrow?" Henry pushed.

"Henry, your Mom might have plans," Emma said softly.

"Do you?" Henry looked up at Regina with pleading eyes.

Regina let out a shaky breath and shook her head, "no plans that can't be cancelled.."

Henry beamed and gave Regina another hug, "thanks, Mom."

Emma smiled at the sight before her and as Regina lower a kiss to Henry's forehead she picked up the menu again, "so, you know what all this stuff is? Right?"

Henry turned his attention back to the conveyor belt and Regina looked at Emma with a raised eyebrow, "surely you've indulged in sushi, Miss Swan?"

"Emma," the blonde corrected, "I have but not for a very long time."

Somehow two hours went by in the blink of an eye, they'd tried almost everything on the restaurant and Henry was happily grabbing small plates of various desserts from the belt. Emma was so happy to see him flourishing again, he had talked non-stop about everything that he had done since Regina had left, despite having probably mentioned most of it to her online already.

He told Regina about the new apartment he lived in with Emma and his new room and he spoke about school and how useless Emma was at helping with his English homework, Emma had raised her wine glass to toast herself at that sleight. Mary Margaret had been teaching him to cook and he was getting pretty good and he told Regina of the recipes he had mastered, with help, of course.

Emma found herself staring at Regina quite often over dinner. She couldn't believe how happy and relaxed she seemed, she laughed and joked unreservedly. This Regina was a world removed from the Regina of Storybrooke, which was probably because she was a world removed. If Emma had thought that Regina would struggle in the real world, in a world without magic, she was being proved wrong.

Regina spoke of her apartment, her job as a cookery teacher, her students, a stables she visited. She seemed genuinely happy and while Emma was pleased for her, she was also heavyhearted. She'd had this hope drifting around in her mind that Regina would not be enjoying Boston as much as she had claimed to Henry online. Emma had kind of wished that once Regina saw Henry and heard tales of Storybrooke she would agree to come back with them. But seeing Regina so vibrant and full of life quashed that idea and Emma was fighting to keep a smile on her face.

"I didn't know you'd be here!" a female voice called out and Regina looked up and smiled enthusiastically.

"Skye!" Regina said with happy surprise, "what are you doing here?"


	9. Chapter 9

Emma turned to see a woman approach the table, she was in her mid-twenties, long red hair and bright green eyes.

"Oh they do Katsu to die for, I was getting takeout as you dropped me!" Skye winked, "this must be Henry?"

The redhead looked at Henry and smiled and gave a little wave, "I have heard so much about you, Henry!"

Henry smiled and waved back to Skye shyly.

"This is Emma Swan," Regina indicated Emma, "Henry's mother."

"The famous Sheriff," Skye smiled and held out her hand to Emma.

"Famous or infamous?" Emma narrowed her eyes jokingly at Regina as she shook Skye's hand.

"Wow," Skye looked at the plates on the table, "you guys tried everything, didn't you?"

"Henry's a growing boy," Regina smiled.

Skye laughed, "well, I'll go and order my takeout, just wanted to say hi, it was great to meet you both.."

"You could stay," Regina offered before looking at Henry and Emma who both shrugged and nodded.

"Oh, are you sure?" Skye asked but she'd already sat down beside Emma. Emma raised an eyebrow but said nothing as Skye looked up at Henry, "Henry, if you see a chicken Katsu come by would you grab it for me?"

Henry nodded, happy to have a job that involved the awesome conveyor belt beside him.

"So, are we still on for tomorrow?" Skye asked Regina.

"Ah, no, I'm spending the day with Henry," Regina said and looked like she was about to apologise.

"Oh I thought you would, who wouldn't want to spend a day with their awesome Mom?" Skye said as Henry handed her a plate of food.

Henry smiled and Regina blushed and Emma took a gulp of wine.

Fifteen minutes later and Emma was looking for a sick bag, Skye was fawning over Regina, had invited herself on Regina and Henry's day out and had spent five minutes telling Emma she should leave Boston on the Friday rather than the Sunday due to a charity run that would make the city a nightmare over the weekend.

Alarm bells were ringing in Emma's head, it all seemed so staged that Skye had turned up at this very restaurant at exactly the right time. The redhead agreed with everything Regina said and reinforced every one of Regina's opinions unless Regina was talking herself down and then Skye would swoop in and tell Regina how amazing she was. It was clear to Emma that they were more than friends and it was also clear to Emma that there was more to Skye. She seemed to have Regina wrapped around her finger and the brunette was seemingly clueless to the fact.

Each time Emma started to try to talk about Skye the redhead would effortlessly bat the question away and focus on something else.

"You should take Henry to see the open kitchen," Skye suddenly suggested to Regina, "Japanese chefs are nearly as impressive as your Mom!"

Henry smiled and looked around the restaurant before his eyes settled on a brigade of chefs preparing food, "that would be cool, can we, Mom?"

"Of course, Dear," Regina said and shuffled out of the booth, "we'll be back in a few moments."

As the two walked off Emma got the distinct impression that Skye had set the whole thing up and as the redhead turned to face Emma she knew this was about to get uncomfortable.

"I don't know what you're game is," Skye said to Emma darkly, "but you should know that Regina is very special to me and I'm not going to let you walk in here and destroy her life again."

Emma raised her eyebrow, "again?"

"Don't think that Regina hasn't told me about her old life, why she came here," Skye took a drink of wine and eyed Emma with venom over the top of it.

Emma knew that Regina wouldn't have told Skye everything but she shuddered to think what Regina had imparted, "look, I'm just here because Henry wanted to see his Mom," Emma tried to calm the situation.

"Just back off," Skye hissed as she grabbed her handbag and stood up as Regina came back to the table, having left Henry watching the head chef, "baby," Skye said sweetly to Regina, "I have a terrible headache, take me home?"

Emma stared unbelievingly at the audacity of the woman as Regina quickly picked up her own bag, "of course, let's get you home," Regina said as she threw some money on the table, more money than was needed to cover the whole bill and a substantial tip but she didn't seem to notice as her concerned eyes were on the redhead. Emma was concerned that home seemed to sound like a shared location and as Regina turned to call Henry over Skye sneered at Emma.

"Henry," Regina said as he approached, "we need to go but I'll contact Emma with details for tomorrow morning, okay?"

"Okay, Mom," Henry said and gave Regina a hug goodnight.

"Great meeting you, Henry," Skye said sweetly, "I'm looking forward to the three of us spending more time together tomorrow. So great meeting you too, Emma," she said as she gave Emma a little wave.

Emma fought to close her mouth at the nerve of the redhead and sweetly smiled back, "oh yeah, it's been great.."

Regina nodded towards Emma and Emma gave her a small smile as the two women left the restaurant.

"Skye's nice," Henry said as he sat down and looked at a half-eaten dessert plate in front of him.

"Yeah, she's a peach," Emma said as she watched the two women outside the restaurant window. Skye looped her arm through Regina's and walked leaned closely into the brunette as they walked away.


	10. Chapter 10

The door to Regina's penthouse apartment crashed open and Regina and Skye stumbled through the entrance, lips fused together as Skye's hands pulled the bottom of Regina's blouse free from her trousers.

Skye kicked the front door closed and started to kiss Regina's neck as she whispered, "I'm sorry, I thought I could stay away tonight, let you have some peace but.." she bit gently and Regina moaned softly, "I had to be near you, I just love you so much."

Regina felt Skye pushing her back against the wall as she sighed, "oh, Darling, it was only one dinner.."

Skye had undone some buttons at the top of Regina's white blouse and was peppering kissed along the older woman's chest, "I need you in my life Regina, I need to make sure you're," she looked up and stared into Regina's eyes, "safe."

Regina blushed and Skye's eyes flickered to the location of the now-healed split lip that she had seen the day she had met Regina. It was a common theme in their relationship, Skye would often look at the lip with an expressive pity and sadness that made Regina's heart melt that someone cared about her so much.

"Skye," Regina breathed and the redhead crashed her lips to Regina's possessively.

In a hotel room just a couple of miles away Henry was sleeping in his bed having immediately crashed out the second he climbed in between the sheets. The excitement of the day had obviously taken its tolls and he had just gotten through telling Emma how he would never be able to sleep due to his excitement when his eyes had flicked closed and he had drifted off to sleep.

Emma opened up her laptop and sat on her bed with the machine on her thighs as she fired off an email to a couple of contacts she used to know in town. Seeing as she was clearly uninvited to the family trip the next day she figured she'd make good use of her time and catch up on some old colleagues. If those colleagues happened to have access to restricted personal records then that was surely a coincidence.

As she was typing a chat message appeared on her screen from Snowisemmasmom and she rolled her eyes, she knew Mary Margaret had taken a big interest in online chatting but everyone she knew lived in Storybrooke so it was pointless her getting involved. If Emma was honest she only ever signed up to that particular chat service in order to connect to Henry and Regina. Regina had never spoken to her, seemingly always offline, and Henry had only ever contacted her to ask about various meals.

She clicked on the flashing message window and smiled at Mary Margaret's opening message.

"how did it go?"

Emma quickly typed back, "hello to you to! I'm great, how are you?"

A small pencil appeared at the bottom of the window indicating that Mary Margaret was constructing a reply. Her typing skills had thankfully improved with her time in the Mayor's office, otherwise Emma would have got in a half hour nap while waiting for the reply.

"hello, we are missing you, how did it go?"

"It went okay, she looked well and really happy. She was pleased to see Henry, they are spending the day together tomorrow," Emma typed back.

Emma saw a new email come in and saw it was from her former bailbonds boss, Frank. She had a look at the email and he said he was free the next day and would be happy to see her, she typed back a quick reply and hit send.

"what's wrong?" Mary Margaret's reply came in.

Emma rolled her eyes. This was typical Mary Margaret mothering, the woman always assumed something was wrong and Emma could just picture those big worried eyes. It just happened to be that ninety percent of the time when Mary Margaret asked, there was actually something wrong.

"There's this woman, Skye.." Emma sneered as she typed the name.

"her friend? Henry mentioned her"

"They are more than friends." Emma typed and sent the line while she thought about how to explain what she thought the redhead was up to.

"fight for her!" Mary Margaret's message came back.

"What?!" Emma said out loud before quickly covering her mouth and looking over to Henry to see if she had woken him. He mumbled a little and turned over and snuggled back into his pillow and Emma looked accusingly back at the laptop screen.

"you can win her heart!" a new message came in and Emma stared at it open mouthed as she wondered how much wine her mother had consumed with dinner that evening.

"What are you on about?" Emma quickly typed back.

"don't let someone take your woman!"

Emma stared at the screen in confusion before composing a new message, "Regina is not MY woman. We're not in a relationship. We never will be! I'm not jealous of Skye, I think she's a con artist. Nothing more, nothing less."

The pencil appeared and she waited for Mary Margaret's reply, hoping that she'd ease up on the exclamation marks.

"are you sure she is a con artist?"

Emma rolled her eyes at her mother's dramatic emphasis moving from exclamation points to question marks.

"I'm pretty sure, I'm going to do some more investigating."

"poor Regina." Mary Margaret replied.

"Did you get me to come here because you think I'm in love with Regina?" Emma borrowed a couple of question marks from her mother.

"no. it was for Henry." Mary Margaret replied simply.

"Just Henry?" Emma asked.

The pencil appeared and disappeared a few times as Mary Margaret debated what answer to give to that question.

"no" finally came back.

"Do you think I'm in love with Regina?" Emma tried again.

"are you?" more Archie speak straight from her mother.

"No!" Emma replied, striking each letter harder than necessary.

"ok honey" the pacifying reply came back.

"I'm going to bed," Emma typed back, "I'll speak to you soon.."

"goodnight Emma, I love you!"

Emma had to smile, even if her mother was attempting to meddle in her non-existent love life. She closed down the chat window and powered down the laptop. Her mind was racing and she knew sleep would take a long time to come that night.


	11. Chapter 11

Regina couldn't sleep. It was four o'clock in the morning when she disentangled herself from her young lover and pulled a burgundy silk robe around her naked body. She exited the bedroom and looked at her fancy coffee machine and the various pods that sat beside it and debated which flavour would soothe her. She selected a gold foil pod, a blonde variety of coffee, and placed it in the machine and pushed a button.

Seeing Henry and Emma today had been a shock in more ways than one. Firstly she thought she would never see either of them again, convinced that Henry's discussions with her via the computer were nothing of substance and would wane in time, just like his affections for her had done.

But when she saw him and he'd tackled her into the most heartfelt embrace she could ever remember receiving, she knew that he cared for her as much as he had been claiming. And then there was Emma, dumb, blind, simple Emma. Pathetic, useless Emma. With her goofy smile and her amusing jokes. Unamusing jokes, she corrected her internal monologue. Seeing Emma was what had really shaken her, they'd never socialised, never had a genuine conversation. Prior to tonight her interaction with Emma had consisted of trying to get her to leave Storybrooke, trying to get her to do her job, trying to kill her and trying to convince her that she was a changed woman. For Henry's sake. Of course.

But tonight it had been so easy, they had laughed and shared wine, yes Henry had taken much of the conversation but they had still had a nice dinner together without any arguments or raised voices. When she had shown Henry how to use chopsticks she noticed Emma trying, and failing, to copy the instructions. Eventually she had leant across the table and pulled Emma's hands into the middle of the table and placed the chopsticks in the correct positions. It seemed so natural. Like a friend. Except they weren't friends.

Her coffee had finished brewing and she took the small cup and saucer and walked into the living room and stared out of the window. She had hoped that Emma would join them today but the blonde had made no indication that she would be interested in spending time with Regina. She was probably looking forward to some time alone now that she was a full time single parent.

A low sound sprung from Regina's desktop which was always switched on and she crossed the room and wiggled the mouse to bring the screen to life. SwanDaSaviour had just signed onto the chat program. Regina frowned as she checked the time, she hesitated a moment while she considered what to do. Soon after she had started speaking with Henry, Emma had connected to her but Regina had no interest in having uncomfortable discussions about her attack with the woman so she had instantly put her on ignore.

She placed the cup and saucer on the desk and sat down as she stared at the name on the screen. Before she knew what she was doing, and she'd later blame being completely sleep deprived, she was typing a message to the blonde.

"Can't sleep?" Regina opted for, simple, calm, understated.

"Hey! I never know when you're online, you don't show up."

Regina frowned, she could be honest and say that was her intention but then that would probably be a conversation killer. Face to face it would have come straight out of Regina's mouth without a second to think about it but this method of communication allowed for more time and consideration to go into each sentence.

"It's not always convenient to talk." Regina opted for, safe, non-combative.

"True." Emma returned and then the pencil started rattling around the screen and Regina waited to see what would come next. "I had a great time tonight."

Regina looked around guiltily even though she had nothing to feel guilty about, it was dinner with her son and his birth mother. Nothing else.

"It was good to see Henry." Regina commented.

"Ouch, could you help get this knife out of my heart?" Emma joked and Regina smiled.

"Seeing you wasn't too terrible." Regina finally allowed.

"He is very excited about today, thank you for agreeing to have him for the day." Emma said.

Regina was about to reply with some affronted comment about Henry being her son but she realised she had no right to say such things anymore.

"And thank Skye for giving up her day as well." Emma added.

Regina blushed, she had portrayed Skye as a friend to Henry for fear of what he may think of in a relationship with a woman and, indeed, falling into a relationship so soon after arriving in the city. However Emma must have seen right through them, there was no point in denying anything.

"She wants to get to know Henry." Regina replied.

"She seems really nice. How long have you two been together? If I may ask.."

Regina licked her suddenly dry lips and had a sip of coffee before typing out a response, "Nearly five weeks. She bumped into me outside a coffee shop near my apartment, it was all rather fast."

Regina anxiously watched the pencil bouncing around the screen and waited for Emma's reply as if the blonde's approval might somehow matter to her.

"Nothing wrong with fast. You both seem happy. Happy suits you Regina."

"You got my text with the address?" Regina asked, quickly changing the subject.

"Yes. 10am! I promise to not be too late!"

Regina smiled, "I'll believe it when I see it. Goodnight, Emma."

"Night Regina x"

Regina stared at the x in shock. Was that how Emma signed off all her messages, was that normal or particular to Regina.

"Baby?" Skye's voice echoed from the hallway and Regina exited the chat window and turned the monitor off.

She turned around to see Skye standing in the open plan living space, leaning on a brick column, completely naked and looking at Regina with hunger in her eyes.

"Can't sleep, Baby?" Skye asked, "but I thought we tired you out earlier?"

Regina felt a twitch between her leg at the memory of Skye taking her against the wall in the hallway and then on the dining table and then in bed. Regina couldn't remember falling asleep so much as passing out and she blushed at the memory.

Skye walked over to her and knelt down in front of her, "don't let those horrible memories come back and make you sad. Remember that I'm here and I love you more than anything."

Regina smiled and cupped the redhead's face in her hands and smiled, "I know, Darling, I love you too."


	12. Chapter 12

Skye walked into the rundown dinner and pulled off her designer sunglasses and looked around the room. Her eyes settled on a man in a booth towards the back of the room and she hurried over and slammed her handbag on the table and sat opposite him.

He looked up from his newspaper and regarded her with contempt, "you're late."

"Took a bit longer than I thought to get away," Skye replied.

He folded his newspaper and interlaced his hands on the table top and looked at her. He was in his early forties with greying, greasy hair and hallow grey eyes. While his clothes were luxurious they were poorly maintained and the back street tattoos and unshaved appearance gave a different story.

"There's a problem," Skye said as she signalled to the waitress at the bar for a cup of coffee.

The man unlaced his hands and started to flex one into a fist, "you know I don't like problems."

"I know, Tony, I'm dealing with it," Skye said with a bored tone.

"We all know you're not exactly the best at dealing with problems, especially after what I had to deal with on your behalf last time," Tony replied but quietened when the waitress appeared and poured some fresh coffee into a mug for Skye.

"The son is in town, with the mother," Skye sighed.

"Ain't she the mother?" Tony frowned.

"She's the adoptive mother, I told you this," Skye rolled her eyes, "the birth mother appeared just over a year ago, took the kid.. kid doesn't love her.. blah blah.. moved to Boston, remember?"

Tony waved his hand to hurry her up, "yeah, yeah, what's the problem?"

"The mother is the Sheriff of the little town she is from, and she's ex-Boston, and ex-Bailbonds.." Skye added with a wince as she knew what was coming next.

"Fuck," Tony said as he brought his fist down on the table loudly, "we don't need this, Skye, you said you had this covered.."

"I do, I just.." she sighed and leant closer to Tony, "you know when you look someone in the eye and you just think.. you, you are going to be trouble?"

"Yeah, I'm looking at someone like that right now," Tony muttered, "want me to deal with her?"

"No, not yet, she's stubborn.. I tried to shake her up a bit but I can tell she won't budge. I need to work on Regina, get her to remember why she left and put those walls back up to get them to leave."

"What about the kid?" Tony asked.

"I don't think he'll be a problem, Regina's told me a lot of history between them and I just need to keep reminding her of what happened and she'll be too scared to let him back into her life," Skye said.

"Okay," Tony nodded, "keep up with what you're doing, don't let her spend time with them without you, we don't need this to delay anything. Have you set the scene?"

"Yeah, once these two idiots have gone I'll spend a week getting really close to Regina, give her everything she wants," Sky winked over her coffee mug, "and then I'll disappear for a couple of days, shake her up a bit, then I tell her about the cancer, go to the appointment together.. by the way are we using Mikey for that?"

"Mikey is ready whenever you are, we just need to talk to Doctor Grant and arrange when to get him out of his office, same as last time," Tony nodded as he flopped back, "you seen the balances?"

"Yeah, your source was right, she's got the money. She doesn't hide the paperwork, she's got no street smarts at all," Skye laughed.

"And you think you've got her hooked?" Tony raised an eyebrow.

Skye smiled, "oh, she's hooked, she's completely wrapped," she waved her little finger in the air.

"Good," Tony nodded, "keep an eye on the son and the mother, I don't want them in the picture for too long. By the way, has she ever mentioned a.." he pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket, ".. a Greg Mendell?"

Skye thought for a moment before shaking her head, "no, that doesn't ring any bells, who is he?"

"He is some guy in New York, he got wind that Regina had left that place.. what's is called again?"

"Storybrooke," Skye rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, there, he has been looking for Regina for a while but the people he was working with have left him and now he is looking for someone to deliver her to him. I'm not really sure who he is or what he's about, I thought I might make some calls.."

"Sure," Skye nodded, "if he's got the money it would be easier to deliver her to him rather than go through the cancer scene."

"Exactly, just wanted to check that he wasn't known to her or that could get messy," Tony replied, "I'll do some digging."

"Cool," Skye stood up, "as long as I get paid I don't care what we do with her."

"You're all heart," Tony laughed as the redhead walked away and threw a wink to him over her shoulder.


	13. Chapter 13

The knock on the door surprised Regina and she wiped her hands on a tea towel and made her way to the door, as she opened the door she smiled and asked "forgotten your key?"

Henry and Emma smiled back and Regina hesitated for a moment, still not quite over the shock of seeing them, "oh, I thought you were Skye.."

"Nope," Emma smiled as best she could, "we wanted to be on time and somehow ended up early, that's okay isn't it?"

"Of course, come in," Regina smiled and opened the door. Henry rushed in and looked around the apartment with a wide grin. It was nothing like Regina's home in Storybrooke, it was warm and inviting with the original red brick visible throughout open plan living area. Everything was large, luxurious but somehow homely and Emma briefly wondered if this was another sign of how far Regina had come since the curse was first cast twenty nine years ago.

"Wow, this place is brilliant," Henry said as he ran over to the window and looked out at the view of the river in the distance.

Regina closed the door behind them and quickly approached Henry and pointed towards a couple of buildings, "that's where we are going today, well, one of the places."

As they started to discuss their plans for the day Emma looked around the apartment and began to investigate what she could see. It always made her smile how even the best of criminal masterminds sometimes left obvious clues within easy sight. An open cupboard door by the front door allowed Emma to see a number of shoes, coats and bags, all were designer but not all were Regina's tastes.

Emma took a couple of steps into the apartment and looked around, a small bowl containing car keys were visible but they were not for Regina's Mercedes, they looked newer but without physically picking them up she wouldn't be able to identify the make. A jade gift box with a white ribbon around it that looked like it was from Tiffany & Co was placed on a shelf beside a small music collection that Emma didn't think would be to Regina's tastes.

With a glance towards Regina who was pointing out local landmarks to Henry, Emma moved towards the kitchen and found what she was looking for. She again checked that Regina was occupied as she flipped through a few pieces of post that were laying on the worktop until she came across what she wanted. At that moment she heard a key in the lock of the front door and she moved a couple of paces towards a dining table, she frowned at three palm prints she could see reflecting off of table's surface in the morning sun and shook her head with a roll of the eyes.

Regina turned around and smiled a few moments later Skye walked into the room, "hello Henry!"

"Hello," Henry said with his trademark smile and turned back to look out of the window, "cool view!"

"Yes, isn't it?" Skye said as she leered at Regina who blushed.

"Morning Skye," Emma said with a big smile, one that became even larger when she saw Skye briefly hesitate before smiling back, "oh, hello Emma!"

Emma had no intention of riling the woman this morning, she had work to do now she had the information she needed, "right, well, I'll get out of your hair!"

Regina took a few steps away from the window, "you can come with us, if you'd like?"

Emma smiled at Regina, "no, I wouldn't want to encroach on your time together," she said sweetly, "I have a couple of friends to catch up with."

"Then join us for dinner," Regina insisted and Emma couldn't help but smile at the way Skye stiffened at the suggestion.

"Sure, just text me where and when," Emma said and walked towards Henry and gave him a hug, "be good, Kid."

"I will, Mom," Henry said.

Emma nodded to Regina and walked towards the front door which Skye opened for her, "have a great day, Emma," Skye said with a venomous smile.

"Oh, I intend to," Emma said as she stepped through the threshold and into the hallway.

Half an hour later Emma was entering the rundown offices of Frank Dempster, her former boss and one of the best bailbonds people in the business.

"Swan!" Frank shouted from behind a rickety old desk piled high with files and papers.

"Hey, Frank," Emma said as she walked over and gave the man a hug, he had been like a father to her and it was so great to see him again.

"Keeping the place as organised as ever?" Emma pointed to the paperwork as she sat in a chair opposite his desk and looked around the room, nothing ever changed here.

"I know where everything is," he smiled as he sat back down gingerly.

Emma pondered that maybe some things do change, Frank was getting older. She'd watched him go from a tough guy in his fifties to a fragile man in his sixties due to various health issues. It had been what had given her the break in her career, he couldn't do all what he used to do so he trained her up and sent her out into the world. Of course Emma had a few tricks of her own but Frank had helped her train her anger and redirected it into something more practical.

"Come back," he waved his clasped hands at her, "I beg of you!"

She laughed, "you know I can't, I have a kid now.."

She'd kept in touch with Frank but of course she hadn't told him everything.

"Eh, was worth a try," he laughed, "how is Henry? Enjoying Boston? Do I get to meet him?"

"He's great, spending the day with his Mom.. you remember Regina?" Emma questioned.

"Yeah, you mentioned her once or twice," Frank laughed and Emma got the impression it was more than once or twice.

"Yeah," Emma shifted, "well, one day this week we'll swing by and he can see my old desk," Emma craned her neck around to see a desk almost completely obscured with papers and boxes, "well, he can see where my old desk was.."

"You've got that look on your face," Frank said with a frown, "what's going on, Swan?"

"Nothing," Emma said but at Frank's pointed look she sighed, "okay, I was going to do the hi, how are you bit but.."

"Come on, out with it.." Frank said impatiently.

"So, Regina's been here for six weeks, right?" Emma started as she leaned forward on the desk to explain.

Frank nodded, "so you say, yeah.."

"There's a woman, she's moved in, sticking to Regina like glue and I'm just getting a.. vibe, you know?" Emma said with a shake of the head.

"Moved in, like, moved in moved in?" Frank wiggled his eyebrows.

"One, don't do that freaky thing with your eyebrows, two, stop saying moved in," Emma sighed.

Frank held up his hands and laugh, "okay, just kidding, just kidding. Not being facetious but isn't that a lesbian kinda thing? Have one date and then move in, pick out new cushions and spend the next three years not seeing anyone?"

"Maybe but it's not a Regina kinda thing," Emma shook her head.

"How do you know?" Frank asked as he laced his fingers together behind his head and leaned back in his chair.

"I just do," Emma said firmly, "this woman is up to something."

"Got a name?" Frank asked.

"Skye Chapman," Emma smiled as Frank picked up the phone on his desk which he'd probably had since before Emma was born. He stabbed his fat finger at some long-since memorised numbers and leant back in his chair.

"It's Frank," he said when the line was connected, "I need you to get me everything you got on a Skye Chapman, living in Boston."

"Redhead, green eyes, mid-twenties, possible Texan accent," Emma added quickly.

"Did you get that?" Frank asked and nodded, "I need this fast," he said as he hung up the phone.

"Thanks Frank, I owe you one," Emma nodded.

"You don't owe me anything, Swan," he waved his hand as his face grew thoughtful, "where's this Regina living?"

"Back Bay," Emma stood up and walked over to the wall where a large well-used map of the city was pinned up and pointed to the road in question, "here, nice building."

"She got money?" Frank asked.

"Yeah, she's well off, doesn't have to work," Emma admitted.

Frank nodded and hauled himself out of his chair with a little grunt and walked over to Emma's old desk and started looking through paperwork before he found a green file and flipped it open, "there's been a spat of cons, over the past twelve months or so," Frank licked his finger to leaf through pages, "young redhead meets up with a mark in the Beacon Hill area. It's the usual con, she's perfect, done her research and weasels her way in. Before long she's living with the mark, being showered with gifts."

"This is sounding familiar," Emma nodded as she walked over and looked at the file with Frank.

"Some of the later marks were taken for everything as redhead got a phoney doctor to diagnose her with some illness. Mark would pay for treatment, you know the rest. Problem is there is very little information on this gang because people don't want to admit they were conned," Frank sighed, "and this sounds like they have moved on from Beacon Hill to Back Bay."

"Shit," Emma said as she leafed through the pages.

"Skye Chapman is probably a fake ID," Frank said as he walked back to his desk and picked up his phone again and started dialling some more numbers, "what's Regina's last name?"

"Mills," Emma said, "what are you thinking?"

"Hey it's Frank again, while you're at it look up a Regina Mills, moved into Back Bay six weeks ago.. I wanna know if anyone else has run any background checks on her, sooner the better."

Emma nodded and looked back towards the file she had in her hand. Frank hung up the phone and walked back over to her, "Swan, these guys are pros, if this woman has had five.. six weeks with Regina then she's had time to get close.."

"Yeah," Emma whispered, "and Regina's got baggage, if Skye.. whoever she is.. has earned Regina's trust then it's going to be hard to convince her that Skye's a fraud."

"The crew's tactics have changed over time, they've got cocky," Frank bit his cheek as he took the file from Emma's hands and flipped through a few pages, "what started as a simple love scam became something bigger and more organised."

He found the page he was looking for and handed it to Emma who gasped as she saw a front profile of a man who had been beaten, "this guy was one of the few who came to me, he didn't want to go to the police but he wanted his money back. He's mother had died of the same illness she was supposed to have and he didn't buy it, they had a row and she left. An hour later three guys turned up and this happened, they stripped the house of all valuables," Frank shook his head.

"This has got to be it," Emma said as she handed the photo back, "I'm not being paranoid am I?"

Frank shrugged, "is she hot?"

Emma blinked, "what?"

"Regina, is she hot?" Frank repeated.

Emma blushed, "well, er, yeah, yeah she's hot.. I suppose.."

"Then it could be nothing, just another redhead, coincidence.." Frank said as she put the file away again.

"Yeah, I suppose.." Emma said.

"Don't sound too disappointed that your friend isn't being scammed, Swan," Frank laughed.

Emma shook her head, "er, sorry, I.. I just, it's a lot to take in.."


	14. Chapter 14

Emma had spent the afternoon catching up with Frank and even helping him to clean the office a little. Frank had never been someone who would ask for help, preferring to just struggle along and get it done himself. But Emma knew that he had weakened considerably since she had gone and stayed longer than she originally intended to help him out. She'd thought about her own parents and the fact that the cruel twist of fate and magic would mean she'd probably be as frail and old as them when they were needed help with things. She briefly thought of a scene where she and Mary Margaret both struggled to bend down to pick up a dropped pen, she wasn't sure she'd ever get used to having parents the same age as herself.

Regina's text had come in mid-afternoon suggesting a restaurant and a time. Henry's text had come in moments later asking if Emma would take him to the cinema after dinner. She smiled and had agreed to both readily and was now waiting for them to turn up at the restaurant. She checked her emails as she waited, desperate to hear more from Frank about Skye. She wanted to be wrong but she didn't want to break Regina's already fragile heart. But then a part of her wanted Skye out of Regina's life whether she was real or not and that bothered Emma as she wondered if she hated Regina so much that she didn't want the brunette to be happy.

"Mom!"

Emma looked up to see Henry running across the restaurant towards her and put her phone down as she stood up and hugged him, "hey, had a good day?"

He looked up at her with a big smile, "yeah, it was awesome!"

Emma smiled, lately everything that was good was awesome and everything that was back sucked. It was Henry's complete vocabulary and she knew Regina would have been rolling her eyes as the fact all day. Regina and Skye walked up to the table, Regina smiling genuinely and Skye with a neutral expression.

"Sorry we're a little delayed," Regina said as if being delayed was somehow different to being late.

"No problem," Emma smiled and they all sat down, somehow Emma found herself opposite Skye and next to Henry and she looked up at the redhead with as much as a smile as she could muster, "so, Skye, I forgot to ask yesterday what you do?"

"Oh, I'm between jobs at the moment," Skye answered and grabbed hold of Regina's arm and smiled at Emma, "I was fired because of this one.."

Emma raised an eyebrow and Regina blushed, "she was late for work because of me and her employer was very unforgiving.."

Emma had an idea how Regina had caused Skye to be late for work but quickly banished the thought from her mind as she said, "ah, I know what it's like to have a boss like that."

Regina smirked at Emma who sweetly smiled back. Skye picked up a menu and started pointing out dishes to Regina when Emma noticed a message arrived on her phone. She turned it over to see that Henry had text her, she kept a neutral face and read the message.

"I hate her."

She smothered a smile and put the phone down again and picked up a menu, she glanced at Henry and he indicated his head to Skye with a frown and Emma nodded her head in understanding. She was pleased that her sixth sense was genetically transferrable and he wasn't as easily taken in by people like Skye. But then she had to admit that Regina and Henry had very different lives and Regina had been starved of real love and affection and therefore held onto it with an iron grip when it did come around.

"Mom said I could see her again the day after tomorrow," Henry said, "we're going to spend some time alone looking at my school work and stuff. If that's okay?"

"Absolutely," Emma smiled, knowing that Henry had brokered some time with Regina alone and feeling relieved that she'd be out of Skye's clutches for a little while, "I have some plans for us tomorrow, I have someone for you to meet."

"Looks like it's just the two of us tomorrow," Skye leaned into Regina's side and smiled. Regina smiled back, a little shy at their display being caught by Emma and Henry.

Emma's phone began to ring and she picked it up to see it was Frank, "excuse me," she said as she walked away from the table and answered the phone in the corridor by the bathrooms.

"Hi, did you find anything?" Emma asked.

"Skye Chapman," Frank said, "doesn't exist. Definite alias. We need more information on her. However, Regina Mills records were searched, the same date you gave me that they met. Seems odd to me that her bank records would be checked and the very next day she'd meet the love of her life."

Emma sighed, "yeah, doesn't it?"

"You need to try to warn Regina, get some warning bells ringing in her head," Frank offered.

"She's not good at listening, especially not to me," Emma laughed.

"Then you need to get some evidence," Frank pointed out, "when you come over tomorrow with the kid I'll keep him entertained and you see if you can find anything else out."

Emma nodded, "okay, thanks for.. well, everything.."

"Anything for you, Swan," he said affectionately, "see you tomorrow, but if you don't bring coffee then don't bother showing up."

Emma laughed as the click of the line disconnecting filled the ear piece of her phone and shook her head. She returned to the table just as the waiter arrived and they all ordered their meals but as soon as the waiter departed Regina looked up at Emma, "is everything all right?"

Emma nodded, "yes, everything's fine.."

Regina didn't look convinced but she didn't press any further and for the rest of the time at the restaurant Emma was quiet and contemplative while the others shared stories of their day together and Emma simply nodded in the right places.

The second dinner was over Henry was dragging Emma out of the restaurant and towards the cinema where he had earlier spotted a film he desperately wanted to see. He'd hugged Regina goodbye and avoided Skye, opting instead to grab Emma's hand and claim they'd be late if they didn't leave immediately.

"You hate her too, don't you?" Henry asked as they walked up the street.

"Hate is a strong word," Emma warned although in her mind she was screaming that she hated the woman with a passion.

"I know," Henry sighed, "but I hate how she is all over Mom.."

"Because she's a woman?" Emma asked hesitantly.

"No!" Henry cried out, "because she's horrible!"

Emma laughed, "why is she horrible, Kid?"

"She just is," Henry said, clearly too young to be able to identify what his senses were telling him about the woman.

"She must have done something for you to not like her?"

"She wouldn't leave Mom alone for a second," Henry bristled at the thought, "she was always.. there! And she treats me like a kid!"

"You are a kid," Emma reminded him with a soft nudge.

"Like a baby then," Henry clarified.

"Maybe she's not good with kids, you have to remember that whatever we think of her, your Mom likes her and we have to respect that," Emma told him, not wanting to give Skye the chance to drive a wedge between them.

"So you do hate her?" Henry smiled.

Emma grinned, "I'm not her biggest fan, no.."

"Can I ask you something and you tell me the truth, like.. not treat me like a kid?" Henry asked sincerely.

"Er," Emma faltered, "I can try, go ahead.."

"Why did Mom leave Storybrooke? Really?" Henry persisted, "everyone tells me it wasn't because of me but no one tells me why or what happened and I deserve to know.."

Emma sighed thought for a moment before she pulled Henry towards a nearby bench and sat him down before sitting beside him, "you're right, you do deserve to know.. but it's one of those adult things that can really hurt and so we wanna protect you from that.."

"But she's my Mom," Henry whispered.

"Which sometimes makes it hard to hear the truth," Emma said before looking around to consider things before she looked back at Henry, "after.. after Cora died your Mom was really sad, you know?"

Henry nodded and cocked his head to one side like he always did when he was listening to something serious.

"So she stayed home and she grieved but some people thought that she was planning something.." Emma said.

"Something evil?" Henry asked.

"Yeah, exactly," Emma took a deep breath, she hadn't wanted to bring this bit up but she had to tell him, "and, you know how you asked your Mom to not," she looked around to make sure no one could overhear, "to not do magic?"

Henry nodded.

"Well, she didn't, not once," Emma said firmly so that Henry knew that Regina had obeyed his wish, "and.. some people, I won't go into details, they hurt your Mom.."

Henry's face paled and Emma quickly took his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze, "they attacked her and she didn't defend herself. She was," Emma paused, "she was scared that they might come back but she was even more afraid that they might use you to get to her. So she decided to leave."

Henry was silent for a while as his young brain processed the information, "if she used her magic then that wouldn't have happened and she wouldn't have left.."

"You can't worry about what might have happened," Emma said tenderly.

"Who did it?" Henry asked, anger boiling up in his face.

"That doesn't matter now," Emma said, "we got them and they were charged and sentenced."

Henry considered this for a moment, "does Mom know?"

"She didn't want to talk about it," Emma said honestly.

"I only wanted her to stop doing magic so she wouldn't go evil again and so people would trust her," Henry said sadly, "but I made it worse, didn't I?"

Emma shuffled closer and pulled him into a hug, "no, Sweetheart, you did nothing wrong. You can't control what other people do."

Emma pressed a gentle kiss into his hair and watched as people went about their business around them.


	15. Chapter 15

The movie was a great distraction for both Emma and Henry and Henry seemed a little more cheerful by the time they returned to the hotel that evening. It was well beyond Henry's bedtime and again with the excitement of the day it wasn't long before he was asleep.

Emma envied him as she watched his relaxed face gently breathing and wished she too could find seemingly peaceful sleep so quickly. She picked up her laptop and sat at the small desk and looked out of the window while she waited for it to boot up. She knew she would have to tread carefully with Regina, it would take one tiny misstep for it to all blow up in Emma's face and Emma knew she wasn't great at having discussions with Regina anyway.

The second the laptop found an Internet connection a message from Snowisemmasmom popped up on the screen, "emma!"

Closely followed by, "how are you? Is everything ok?"

Emma put her fingers over the keys and hesitated, her immediately response was to say that everything was fine but she knew it wasn't and she didn't want to lie to Mary Margaret.

"Not really." Emma replied after a short pause.

"what is happening there?"

"Skye is a con artist, she is scamming Regina."

Emma waited for her mother's response anxiously, Mary Margaret and Regina may have had their problems but Emma suspected that no one knew Regina as well as her mother.

"oh my."

Emma rolled her eyes, that wasn't really the helpful reply she was hoping for. She waited a few moments and then the pencil started to move again as Mary Margaret overcome her initial shock and started to formulate another reply.

"scam how?"

With a sigh Emma thought about how to phrase what was happening in such a way that would not offend her mother's sometimes delicate sensibilities.

"It's called a love con, a scammer finds someone who has money and then they get close to them. Pretend to love them, flatters them, reinforces how great they are and how badly everyone has treated them. Eventually the person only trusts the scammer and then the scammer steals their money." Emma sighed, spelling it out seemed to hurt.

The pencil appeared and then disappeared and then again and then again as Mary Margaret wrapped her head around the fact that someone could do such a thing.

"but that's horrible." Came the eventual reply.

"Yes, it is." Emma agreed before adding, "I did tell you that people were cruel in this world."

"you have to tell Regina!" Mary Margaret replied quickly.

"I know, I'm just afraid that she won't want to hear it, especially not from me."

"then you have to bring her back to Storybrooke!"

Emma frowned, "are you asking me to kidnap Regina?"

After a short pause Mary Margaret replied, "do you think you can?"

"I am not going to kidnap Regina." Emma hit the enter key a little harder than necessary before adding, "she hates me enough as it is!"

"then what are you going to do?"

Emma stared at the question, she didn't know. She was somehow hoping that Mary Margaret would have an answer but so far she'd only suggested kidnapping and that wasn't going to help.

"I don't know." Emma replied honestly.

The pencil appeared for a long time and eventually Mary Margaret's reply came in.

"whatever you say you are going to hurt Regina, it can't be avoided. But if you can give her evidence or things to look for you might be able to sway her. Regina blows up with anger very quickly but later she will think about it, it will play on her mind. Be gentle with her."

Meanwhile, in Regina's apartment, Skye was also being gentle with Regina who stood naked as the warm water of the shower soaked her skin and enjoyed the ministrations of the redhead on her knees between her legs. Regina leaned back against the cool tile of the shower holding onto the shower grab rail with one hand, the other hand running through Skye's wet hair and applying some pressure.

"Oh, just there," Regina groaned as Skye's tongue hit the exact right spot and made Regina gasp in pleasure.

Skye picked up the pace and snaked a hand up between Regina's legs and quickly entered her with two fingers. Regina gasped in surprise but that gasp quickly turned to moans as the redhead thrust her fingers in and out of Regina's pussy at breakneck speeds. Under the onslaught Regina quickly came undone and her legs started to shake as her orgasm over took her. Skye pulled her head back but maintained soft pressure with her fingers to ensure that she drained every inch of the orgasm from her lover's body.

When Regina stilled Skye stood up and used the water from the powerful showerhead to clean her face and fingers before embracing Regina, "I love you, Darling.."

Regina breathlessly nodded, "I love you, too.."

"Today wasn't too painful was it?" Skye asked as she cuddled the shorter brunette to her chest, "seeing Henry, I mean? I know he really hurt you before, kids can be cruel and all that and I know he is a great kid but.. to just turn off his love for you like that.. I know it was hard."

Regina slowly nodded, "it was hard but I don't think Henry.. he.. well, I wasn't completely blameless.."

"No, no," Skye gently pushed wet streaks of hair from Regina's face, "don't think like that, they took Henry and his love away from you. Your only crime was loving your son."

Tears started to form in Regina's eyes as she remember those long, lonely days back in Storybrooke.

"I'll never forget what those people did to you," Skye said with annoyance, "when I first saw you and your beautiful face with those.. horrible marks.. I vowed that day to never let anyone hurt you again."

Regina cuddled in closer to the hug as tears began to fall in earnest down her face, "thank you," she whispered softly.

"You don't need to thank me, Baby," Skye kissed the top of Regina's head, "you know I'd do anything for you.." she paused for a while before continuing, "if you don't feel up to seeing them again you don't have to, you know? I can send them away if you don't feel you can? I know the kind of emotional blackmail they are likely to use on you.. I can make it all go away if you like?"

Silence lingered between the two women and the only sound that could be heard was the sound of the water from the shower.

Eventually Regina sniffed and then spoke, "thank you, I think I'd like to see Henry again, it will be nice to clear the air. Just the two of us."

"Are you sure? I could be there with you if you like?" Skye pressed.

"No, I'll be okay, it will be good for us to be alone together, we can really talk," Regina said as she stood up and nodded to the redhead.

"Okay, Baby," Skye said with a smile, "whatever you think is best.."


	16. Chapter 16

"So, Frank was your boss?" Henry asked as Emma handed him a takeaway cup of hot chocolate and picked up two coffees.

"Yup," Emma replied as she directed him to the door.

"Cool, so you used to chase down bad guys together?" Henry enthused as he stepped out onto the street.

"Sort of, there's a lot of boring desk work involved though, it's not all running around town tackling people to the ground," Emma said but she knew Henry wasn't listening to her.

"Cool," he said with a grin.

"So, you're okay if I leave you with Frank for a little bit to run a couple of errands?" Emma confirmed.

"Sure, maybe I can help him with a case?" Henry looked up at Emma with pleading eyes.

"No one ever goes into Frank's office and doesn't help him with a case," Emma nodded seriously as the approached the doorway to the rundown old office, "this is it!"

Henry looked at the rickety old door and frowned, "this is it?"

"Yeah," Emma looked at it, "it's, like, undercover."

Henry nodded knowingly and followed Emma into the office as she called out, "hey Frank!"

Frank appeared from one of the other rooms with a big smile, "Swan! And this must be Henry?"

"Yes, Sir," Henry smiled at the older man.

"I'm glad you're here, Henry," Frank said seriously, "I need another set of eyes on an important case I'm running, do you think you can help?"

Henry's eyes went wide with excitement, "yeah! I mean," he turned to Emma and asked, "can I?"

Emma smiled at Henry and handed a coffee to Frank, "sure you can!"

"Great!" Frank said, "Henry, can you go into that room over there and in there you'll find a blue box with DVDs, I need you to find the DVDs for March of this year.. they should be in order."

"Sure thing!" Henry said as he hurried into the room Frank had just come from.

As soon as he was gone Emma smiled, "thanks for doing this.."

"No problem," Frank grinned, "he seems like a great kid, and you talk about him so much I feel like I know him already."

Emma nodded as she could see Henry searching through the box and trying to organise the DVDs, "so, did you find anything?"

"Not a lot, but I do have one lead you might want to start with," Frank said as he picked up a folder off of the desk beside him, "we ran a report on Regina's mobile number and from that we figured out which number is Skye. Then we ran a report on Skye's number and we have pinged her locations for the last five days, you should be able to see exactly where she has been."

"Great," Emma nodded as she flipped through the folder and looked at the map and list of dates and locations.

"I've also had her mobile hacked, usual score," Frank said casually, "if you ping this number you'll get a reference of where she is. Or at least where her phone is.."

Emma took the piece of paper, "good, I want to catch Regina alone today.."

"I also spoke to a woman who I think was one of the first victims of Skye, except she knew her as Tammy, I said you might want to get in touch and she's willing to talk to you," Frank handed Emma another piece of paper.

"You're a lifesaver," Emma smiled and leaned forward and gave him a hug.

Henry came back into the room with a handful of DVDs, "I've got them all," he smiled.

"Great, I can tell you're going to be the best assistant I've had," Frank said seriously.

"Hey," Emma said, "don't replace me.."

Henry laughed, "don't worry, Mom, you can bring us snacks," he added cheekily.

Emma shook her head with a smile, "right, I need to go, you two be good," she pointed at Frank and then at Henry with a serious expression, "no trouble, not without me anyway!"

She was almost instantly forgotten as Frank and Henry started to look at the DVDs and Frank explained to Henry the important case he was working on. Emma rolled her eyes and looked at the final piece of paper that Frank and given her and entered the telephone number into her phone. Stepping out of the office and into the street she hit the dial button and waited for an answer.

On the seventh ring a female voice answered, "hello?"

"Hi," Emma said, trying to sound friendly and disarming, "my name is Emma, Frank gave me your number, I'd like to talk to you about Tammy?"

There was a slight pause, "oh, yes, yes, would you like to come over?"

"Sure, whereabouts are you?"

The woman gave Emma an address and some directions and Emma said she'd make her way there immediately. Once she hung up the phone she started walking towards the nearest subway stop and quickly picked up the ping number that Frank had given her for locating Skye's mobile. She programmed the number into her phone and pinged it as a test, a few moments later a map reference came back and she accessed it and saw the location as Regina's apartment.


	17. Chapter 17

Emma knocked on the door to the apartment and waited while she anxiously shifted from foot to foot. She heard someone approach the door and a few moments later a few locks unlocked and the door opened to reveal a slightly overweight woman in her late forties, she wore expensive clothes and had short blonde hair.

"You must be Emma?" She asked and when Emma nodded she held out her hand, "I'm Kristina."

Emma shook her hand and smiled, "thank you for agreeing to meet with me.

Kristina nodded and gestured for Emma to enter the apartment, "can I get you some tea?"

"That would be lovely," Emma smiled and followed the woman into the kitchen. The apartment was in a nice part of the city and Kristina clearly had money, which was why Skye had targeted her in the first place.

"Please, sit down," Kristina nodded to a small dining table in the kitchen and Emma took a seat, "what name is she using now?"

"Skye," Emma said, "Skye Chapman."

Kristina nodded, "I knew her as Tammy Bryant, I've spoken with a couple of other victims of hers, always a different alias."

Emma nodded, "it's common for her type of criminal."

"So Frank tells me," Kristina said as she began to assemble cups and saucers on a tray, "so, it's a friend of yours who she has her claws into now?"

"Yes," Emma nodded, "well, we're kind of friends. Not close enough for her to trust me if I warned her about Skye."

Kristina smiled, "my own sister couldn't convince me, I was head over heels in love and nothing could have convinced me otherwise. But," she looked up and laughed lightly, "with hindsight, I can see things now that I didn't see then."

"It's those kind of things I need to know to warn my friend," Emma said as Kristina placed a teapot on the tray and brought it to the table.

"Has your friend had her heart broken in the past?" Kristina asked as she picked up a large wooden box and placed in on the table to show Emma a selection of different teas.

Emma sighed, "yes, she's not had the best of luck.."

"That's what Tammy looks for," Kristina nodded as she sat down, "it's almost like she can sense it in people. Maybe we wear our hearts on our sleeves? Whatever it is, she detects it."

Emma selected a teabag and placed it in a cup and Kristina poured hot water in before she continued, "it seemed like a random occurrence, we ran into each other three or four times. When we were together we put it down to fate," Kristina laughed wryly, "but, again, in hindsight I know it was all part of her plan. Before long she was in the right place at the right time and saying the right thing, all the things you get warned about but when it's happening to you it's so potent and so captivating that you don't think twice. You don't want to think twice."

Kristina poured herself some water and looked at the teas to pick a bag for herself, "within two weeks she had moved in, about the same time she lost her job. She had done so much for me so I wanted to do something for her, I started to pay her way, she always refused to accept the money at first but I.." she laughed.. "I forced money on her. It went on for weeks and weeks, she'd use my money to buy me gifts and even though I knew that in my heart.. the fact it had come from her made it all worthwhile."

Kristina plunged a teabag into the hot water and seemed to focus on something faraway.

"How did she eventually get caught?" Emma asked.

"It was two months and.. tens of thousands of dollars later.. she told me she wanted to be a nurse but she hadn't finished high school due to family problems. Family problems similar to my own, I might add. I said I'd pay for her to go to school, of course she wouldn't accept at first but then she found a school and some courses. I paid her tuition fees up front, and even convinced her to stay in the halls of residence, to come and visit me at weekends" Kristina laughed, "you won't believe this but I actually helped her to pack all the gifts I had given her into her car. Can you believe it? I paid for her to go to fake school and I helped her pack everything she had conned me out of.. and she drove off into the sunset."

Emma shook her head in shock, "I'm so sorry.."

Kristina smiled, "it's okay, I'm getting on with my life and she taught me a valuable lesson.."

"You said that there were signs, when you looked back?" Emma asked.

"Yes, there were a few things. Firstly, she had an aversion to me seeing any friends or family, which seems so obvious now but at the time it just seemed like she wanted to protect me from people who had hurt me in the past. She was always looking after me, making tea, making dinner, cleaning up, rubbing my feet, massaging my shoulders, it was all too good to be true," Kristina said as she took a sip of tea, "and the sex, when I look back it was the sex that was the biggest warning signal."

Emma tried to not blush or choke on her tea as she casually asked, "how so?"

"It was like she was only interested in serving me," Kristina said as she swirled her teacup and looked off into the distance, "we'd have sex and she'd.. get me there," Kristina said delicately, "but she wasn't interested in me reciprocating. She kept saying that she enjoyed giving more than receiving but.. I don't think that's entirely true about anyone! I would say ninety percent of our sexual encounters were one-sided."

Emma kept a neutral expression as she nodded, "that is odd.."

"Looking back that was the major thing that sticks out, I think she was keeping her distance, didn't want to darken herself too much. Like how some prostitutes won't kiss on the mouth, or so I'm told.." Kristina smiled.

"Do you have any advice on what I should say to my friend?" Emma asked.

Kristina mulled this over for a while before sighing, "it is difficult, when you are in that situation the sensation of being loved and wanted is so strong that you don't want to believe for a second that any of it is fake. Like that being wrong could break your heart so you just choose not to believe it, even in the face of evidence. It was three weeks after Tammy disappeared that I actually began to let myself realise what had happened."

Kristina drank some more tea, "ask your friend if they have ever argued, does she always give in, treat her like a queen, give her everything and expect nothing in return? She won't believe you, but if you can sew a seed of doubt then maybe you can get through to her."

Emma nodded, "thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me, I know it can't have been easy."

"I got off lucky," Kristina shook her head, "when she met me she was alone, just playing a game.. now she has someone else pulling her strings. I thought what she did to me was bad but when I heard of the others.. it pales. I couldn't sit by and let that happen to someone else. You're a good friend, I hope you manage to get through to her."

"So do I," Emma whispered.


	18. Chapter 18

As Emma approached the door to leave Kristina's she turned and asked, "do you have a picture of Tammy? It might help me to convince my friend.."

Kristina shook her head, "unfortunately I don't, once I realised what had happened I started removing all traces of her from my life. That's the problem with a digital life, you can easily delete someone. Paper photographs take a little more thought to destroy.."

Emma nodded her understanding, "I know what you mean, thank you again for your time, I really appreciate it."

"If there's anything else I can do please let me know," Kristina said as she opened the front door and stepped to one side to allow Emma into the hallway, "good luck."

Emma smiled and said thank you as she exited the apartment and started to walk up the corridor towards the stairwell. She felt the weight of the world on her shoulders, she knew that Regina had been chased out of town and her own inaction had been a cause of it. Now she could see Regina's heart being broken again and considering the last time that happened she enacted a powerful dark curse she was worried about what might happen this time.

Although if Emma were really honest with herself she knew that Regina was out of fight now. The brunette had been manipulated into creating a curse that she believed would be her happy ending but even Emma could see that Storybrooke was no happy ending for Regina. Then Emma's arrival had thrown everything in Regina's organised world off kilter, followed by the curse breaking and the shifting of power away from Regina.

The fact the Regina had packed up and left Storybrooke just went to show how broken she was. With no more desire to fight, one too many encounters that had damaged her already battered and bruised heart. And now this.

Emma sighed as she quickly made her way down the stairwell to the ground level and wondered why it had to be her who again would be forced to upset the woman, take away another perceived happy ending, put herself in the line of fire of Regina's extraordinary temper.

It suddenly dawned on Emma that it had never even occurred to her to not tell Regina. Some people, many of the residents in Storybrooke in fact, would probably have chosen to ignore the fact. Regina wasn't in possession of her magic, she couldn't conjure a plague of locust to dive-bomb the poor people of Boston. Her pain would affect no one but herself.

As Emma opened the door and stepped out onto the sidewalk and began to make her way towards the subway she considered why she was telling Regina. She wasn't going to enjoy breaking Regina's heart, destroying her supposed happy life. Maybe she was a Charming after all, maybe being the product of true love meant that she was inherently good. Emma laughed to herself and shook her head, her life before Storybrooke definitely discounted that thought.

When she really considered it she knew she was telling Regina because she couldn't stand to think of the brunette being conned, being hurt, even if it meant trouble for Emma she knew she had to do the right thing and protect Regina. Protect her like she hadn't managed to before. The grainy CCTV image of Regina being attacked on her porch returned, uninvited, to the forefront of Emma's mind and she had to physically shake herself to get rid of it.

She pulled her mobile phone out of her pocket and pinged Skye's mobile and noticed that the redhead had left Regina's apartment and was across the other side of the city. Emma broke into a run towards the subway, she needed to speak to Regina fast as she had no idea how long she would have before Skye would return.


	19. Chapter 19

Emma hammered her fist on the front door again and nearly fell forward when Regina suddenly opened the door and stared at her with a mix of anger and confusion, "Emma? What's wrong?"

"Henry is fine," Emma answered the unspoken question before Regina had a chance to ask, "I need to talk to you."

Regina frowned and stepped aside to let Emma in and watched in a bemused way as Emma quickly looked around the room, "are you sweeping for bugs, Dear?"

"Is Skye here?" Emma asked as Regina closed the front door and walked towards Emma with her hands in the pockets of her black trousers.

"No, she has an appointment," Regina said before sighing, "what is going on?"

Emma turned to face Regina and leant back against the back of a dining room chair as she gathered her thoughts, "there's no.. good way to say this," Emma started and watched Regina's face fall in dread at what may have been coming next, "it's Skye.. she's a con artist."

Regina's expression turned to one of bored confusion, "what?"

"She's a con artist," Emma said again, "she is scamming you, I'm so sorry, Regina.."

"That's ridiculous," Regina said as she stalked towards the kitchen where she appeared to be in the middle of baking and crouched down to look through the glass oven door at what was happening inside.

Emma rolled her eyes and followed her, standing with her arms folded she tried again, "Regina, I'm serious, I know women like her, I used to track them down.."

"Yes, please, let's bring up your criminal past, it makes your wild accusations so much more palatable," Regina muttered as she stood up and placed some of the used cooking utensils into a used bowl and began to stack them in the dishwasher.

"Have you given her money?" Emma asked and immediately regretted it as Regina spun around and glared at her.

"How dare you come in here and question me on such things!" Regina roared as she walked forward and came heel to heel with the blonde, "how I live my life and WHO I live my life with is no one's business but my own and it most certainly has nothing to do with you."

Emma had expected a fight but maybe not quite so venomous as she quickly replied, "this woman is conning you, she is pretending to love you for financial gain.."

".. because who on earth would love me?" Regina hastily interjected, "that's what you mean, isn't it? She has to be a fraud because no one could love someone like me!"

"That's not what I meant and you know it!" Emma shouted back.

"Are you jealous?" Regina asked as she put her hands on her hips.

"What? No!" Emma shook her head, "I don't want you to get hurt!"

Regina laughed loudly and turned away, "well you're too late for that Saviour!"

"Regina.." Emma sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose with one hand, "please.. just hear me out, please?"

Regina turned around and folded her arms as she leant back on the kitchen counter, "no."

"What?" Emma hadn't expected that.

"No," Regina sniffed, "why should I listen to this? You come here, out of the blue, and after no time at all you are accusing my lover of being a fraud!"

"Does your lover ever let you reciprocate?" Emma asked quickly.

Regina stared at her with an open mouth of shock at Emma's impertinence.

"Because if she's the woman I think she is, she's more interested in pleasing you than she is at being please, because that's what these people do. So, do you fuck each other equally or is it just her fucking you," Emma pointed her thumb at the dining table behind her, "on the table?"

Regina looked enraged but utterly speechless and Emma took the opportunity to continue, "do you ever fight? Does she agree with everything you say? Does she try to keep you away from other people? Away from Henry? Does she seem too good to be true?"

"How dare you!" Regina said and stalked towards Emma with such a glare that Emma quickly moved around the table to put some space between her and the brunette.

"I'm not trying to hurt you," Emma pleaded as the each circled the table, Regina ready for blood and Emma trying to avoid the older woman's wrath.

"Could have fooled me!" Regina hissed.

"There's one person fooling you and it isn't me!" Emma said as the pace around the table started to pick up and Emma briefly wondered how she would explain missing a limb when she went to pick Henry up that afternoon.

"Is my happiness that threatening to you?" Regina asked as she quickly changed the direction she was circling the table.

Emma nearly tripped as she also changed direction, "I want you to be happy, I just know that Skye isn't the person who can do that!" Emma paused when Regina did and watched as she wondered if Regina was about to dive left, right or straight over the table, "I bet she's at a doctor's appointment isn't she?"

Regina hesitated, there was a second where her expression changed and Emma latched onto it, "because that's what she does, she lures people in, people who have had hard life, people who deserve to be loved and she makes them feel so loved. But then she gets sick, needs expensive treatment.."

Emma held her hands up, "you know what? I don't want to run around this table any more, I'm done.. I didn't want to do this, I don't want to be the person who has to ruin any happy ending you have.. I just don't want you to get hurt and I know I didn't protect you before but I really wanted to do it now.. even.. even if that does mean you scratch my eyes out."

Regina stared at Emma's defeated figure and began to formulate a reply, or maybe a form of attack, when the sound of the front door opening shocked them both. Skye walked in and looked at the two women, separated by the dining table with a frown, "is everything okay?"

"Fine," Emma gritted out without breaking eye contact with Regina.

"Baby?" Skye looked at Regina with concerned eyes and Emma let out a sigh at the term of endearment.

"Baby, has she been upsetting you?" Skye asked softly.

Emma bit the inside of her cheek and slowly pivoted on her feet until she faced the redhead, "you are unreal, you know that?"

"Emma," Regina warned slowly.

"I saw Kristina this morning," Emma said and was gratified at the tiny flicker of recognition in Skye's face before it returned to its confused and passive state.

"Who? Are you confusing me with someone else?" Skye asked innocently.

"Emma, you should leave, now," Regina warned again.

Emma looked from Regina to Skye and knew that she wouldn't be able to get through to Regina, there was too much confusion and residual anger in the room. Emma nodded and started to make her way towards the door, Skye refused to move and shouldered Emma heavily as the blonde tried to edge past her.

"You know what?" Emma said with her back to Skye as she faced the door with a crooked smile, "this is probably really stupid but I just.. gotta do it.."

Half a second later Emma's fist had connected with Skye's face and sent the redhead flying backwards. Regina was stunned motionless at the violent punch Emma had used to send her girlfriend hurtling to the floor and just watched as Emma held her damaged hand with a wince and turned and walked out of the apartment.


	20. Chapter 20

"Skye!" Regina cried out as Emma slammed the door shut on her way out. She rushed over to the redhead who was staring at her bloodied fingers having just brought them away from her presumably broken nose.

"Are you okay?" Regina knelt down beside her and the young woman to sit up.

"What was she on about?" Skye whispered as she looked from Regina to the door, she took Regina's face in her hands, "she's trying to come between us, isn't she? What lies did she tell you?"

Regina looked the redhead in the eye and smiled, "she's delusional, jealous of the life I have.. of the life we have.."

Skye stared back at Regina for a few moments before slowly nodding.

"Let me get you a cool cloth," Regina said as she stood up and rushed to the kitchen and ran a clean tea towel under the cold tap, "I'm so sorry she hit you.."

Skye stood up and looked at her face in the hallway mirror, "not your fault, Baby.."

Regina approached her and gently dabbed at the blood below her nose, "I can still feel guilty, it's not the first time I've seen her throw a punch.. hold your head back a little.."

Regina guided Skye into the living room and sat her on the sofa and as she delicately cleaned the area, "the good news is I don't think it's broken," Regina gave a half-smile.

"What did she say to you?" Skye asked softly.

Regina paused, "not much of anything, she was ranting like a lunatic.. she.. she said she didn't think you were good for Henry. She didn't say anything as such, she has this ridiculous notion that she had a super power, that she can tell when people are lying. It's never worked as long as I have known her," Regina laughed lightly, "to be honest.. I think she'd been drinking.."

"Drinking?" Skye looked shocked.

"Yes, she's an alcoholic," Regina said, "I should have mentioned before but when I saw her the other night I thought she'd gotten herself back on track. But clearly she hasn't, I worry for Henry, of course.."

"Of course!" Skye agreed with a nod, "but there's nothing you can do, is there? She's the mother.."

"Yes," Regina nodded before standing up and pacing the room, "but I just feel like I should exercise my rights as his adoptive mother and have him live with me.. where he'd be safe.. but then, I don't know," Regina sat on an armchair and regarded Skye curiously, "what do you think I should do, Dear?"

Skye looked at Regina with gently eyes as she spoke softly, "I think Henry has caused you a lot of hurt, and I know he is your son and you love him but.. I would hate to see you be hurt by him again. He's made it clear who he wants to be with.. and there is a whole support group for him back home.. Emma's parents, for example?"

Regina looked at Skye and gave her a small, tight grin, "you're right, of course.. tell me, how was your doctor's appointment?"


	21. Chapter 21

Emma returned to Frank's office with two large paper bags of takeaway food and a drinks carrier with some soda and two coffees.

"Hey Mom," Henry smiled when she walked in, "we have totally solved the mystery of what was happening at the printing factory at night, this security guard.."

"Henry," Emma interrupted, "I just need to quickly talk to Frank in private," she handed him a bag, "there's some lunch I just need a couple of minutes, okay, Kid?"

"Okay," Henry nodded and took the bag and a soda and happily returned to the studio to play with the CCTV equipment he'd been learning to use.

Frank raised his eyebrows as he regarded Emma's hastily bandaged knuckles, "trouble in paradise, Swan?"

"I hit her," Emma announced as she put the bag of food on the desk.

"Regina?" Frank asked in shock.

"No!" Emma shook her head, "Skye.."

"You better start from the beginning.." Frank said as he sat down and opened up the paper bag and pulled out a sandwich and started to unwrap it.

"I saw Kristina, she told me about Skye.. Tammy.. whoever.. and it just made my blood boil. So I saw Skye was out and I went to see Regina. I probably could have phrased it better but she didn't believe me. I thought she was going to kill me at one point.." Emma said as she sat in the chair opposite his desk.

Frank raised an interested eyebrow as he took a bite of his sandwich.

"Anyway, Skye came home, Regina kicked me out and I just.. snapped.. punched her in the face," Emma closed her eyes and sighed, "so stupid."

Frank shrugged his shoulders, "what's done is done, you did your best."

"No, I didn't," Emma sighed, "my best would have been to have a reasonable conversation, use my words and not my fist, which really hurts by the way. My best would have been to convinced Regina rather than piss her off.. What if I've pushed her right into Skye's arms?"

Frank was about to answer when the phone on his desk rang and he sighed and grabbed the receiver, "yeah?"

He listened for a while and a frown came over his face before he looked at Emma, "do you know a Greg Mendell?"

Emma frowned and shook her head, "no, don't think so.. why?"

He held up his hand as he listened to the person on the phone before looking at her again, "sometimes known as Owen Flynn?"

Emma shook her head, "doesn't ring any bells.."

Frank nodded and listened to the call, "call him back, tell him we're happy to make a deal."

Frank put the phone down and looked at it suspiciously before looking up at Emma, "I don't like this, Swan, I don't like this at all."

"What's going on?" Emma sat forward.

"My guy who ran Regina's records got a call from a Greg Mendell, says he's been looking for Regina for years and is willing to pay for information on where she is.. my guy said he'd speak to his boss to see if a deal could be done. He's done some digging on Greg Mendell and that's an alias for an Owen Flynn."

"Who is he? What does he want with Regina?" Emma asked out loud.

"More to the point, if we got this call when we did a record check on Regina then I'm willing to bet Skye and her crew did as well," Frank said.

"This stinks," Emma muttered.

"I told my guy to get in contact with Greg, tell him we're willing to do a deal, that should give us more information to go on.." Frank said as he looked at Henry in the other room, "he's a good kid.."

Emma turned and looked at Henry as the boy mastered the CCTV control deck, "yeah, he is.."

"If you're gonna be punching criminals then I think he needs to be well out of it," Frank said with a pointed look towards Emma.

Emma nodded, "yeah, I'm not going to win any mother of the year awards am I?"

"I dunno," Frank shrugged as he took a bite of his sandwich, "she deserved a smack in the face," he winked.

The phone rang again and Emma's heart stopped as she saw Frank pick up the receiver, "yeah?"

She tried to listen to what was being said on the other end of the line but she couldn't make anything out so she instead tried to read Frank's passive face for any clues. After a while he nodded, "yeah, get me everything you can on him, like, yesterday."

He slammed the phone down, "my guys just got in contact with Mendell but he said he has made a deal with someone else."

Emma grabbed her mobile phone and quickly dialled Regina she put the phone to her ear, "it's off," she said immediately and hung up the call, "I need to get over there.."

"You go, I'm going to see what we can dig up on Mendell," Frank said as he jumped into action grabbing bits of paper from his desk and picking up a pen.

Emma stood up and looked towards Henry and paused, "I've got the kid, you go," Frank said without looking up. Emma nodded, "thanks," and quickly left the office.

Henry noticed Emma leaving and walked into the main office, "where's Emma gone?"

"We got a new case kid, this is going to make the printing factory look boring!" Frank said with excitement, "first I need to teach you how to triangulate a mobile phone signal!"

"Cool!" Henry beamed happily.

Half an hour later Emma approached Regina's front door for the second time in an hour and hesitated briefly before knocking. Her knuckles were throbbing but she would be willing for a second round with Skye if the opportunity arose. She knocked again and paced from leg to leg as she waited. After a while she knocked again and pressed her ear against the wood of the door in case she could make out any noise on the other side. She held her breath and listened but there was nothing.

She looked up and down the hallway before kneeling in front of the door and getting a small lock picking kit from her inside jacket pocket. She was briefly thankful that Regina had chosen to live in an old style building with more basic locks as she threaded two long metal skewers into the keyhole and slowly felt around for the click.

Within twenty seconds she had opened the lock and she quickly stepped into the apartment, closing the door behind her.

"Hello?" Emma called out, "anyone home?"

Silence greeted her and she started to look around the open-plan living space carefully. When they left they must have left in a hurry, the car keys were gone and so were expensive ornaments and gifts that she'd seen earlier. Emma looked around the kitchen and saw that the dishwasher was still only half full but the post had been cleared away.

Emma quickly made her way through the apartment to the rooms she hadn't seen before and found the master bedroom. Drawers were flung open and clothes were thrown haphazardly across the floor, Emma noticed that only one of the bedside cabinets had been opened emptied and she walked around and opened the other to find it untouched. She opened the top drawer and saw a photograph of Henry as a baby as well as some paperwork. In the next drawer were some cookery books and notes on classes written by Regina. Emma spun around and walked over to the wardrobe, half of the clothes were gone but Regina's still remained.

Looking in the bathroom, Emma found the same story, Skye's belongings were gone and Regina's were either left or had been pushed to the floor in haste. Emma got her mobile phone and again tried Regina's mobile but it was still turned off. She quickly accessed her contact list and called Frank.

"Yeah?" Frank answered.

"It's me," Emma said as she ran a hand through her hair and stepped back into the master bedroom, "I'm at Regina's place, Skye's gone.. she's taken everything of value and she's gone. It was fast, she didn't want to hang around.. but Regina isn't here and her phone is switched off. I have a really bad feeling about this."

"Mendell has been in and out of psych hospitals most of his life," Frank said, "since a kid he has been babbling about some place that disappeared off the map, his father went missing. He was part of an organisation called the Home Office at one point, bunch of loons who believe magic is real. But even they kicked him out because they thought he was unstable."

Emma felt all the strength leave her body as she sat on the edge of the bed, "have.. have you mentioned any of this to Henry?"

"No," Frank said quickly, "no, he is helping with the case but he doesn't know any of the details."

"Keep it that way, he is smarter than you think and I don't want him getting too involved.." Emma said as she looked around the bedroom.

"Don't worry, Swan, I'm keeping him safe. Mendell was using a series of cloaked mobiles so I've got Henry working on following that trail, it might take a while though," Frank sighed.

"I fucked up didn't I?" Emma asked.

"You can't think like that.." Frank said softly.

"I can.. and I do," Emma sniffed a way a small tear, "I got emotional, I showed my hand and I spooked Skye. She must have realised her original plan wouldn't work and that's when they decided to take Greg's deal.."

"We don't know that.." Frank replied, "and remember, you need a cool head to find someone, we'll figure this out. Who knows, she might have gone for a walk or something?"

Emma laughed at the propaganda, "you really believe that, Frank?"

"Doesn't matter what I believe, I follow the evidence.." Frank said, "and right now.."

"That's Skye," Emma whispered as she stood up with a determined look on her face, "keep tracking Mendell, I'm going to reintroduce my fist to Skye's face."


	22. Chapter 22

When she started to wake up she could mainly hear a muted ringing sound, her eyes wouldn't open and she couldn't move her body and so she focused on the sound. The more she focused the more it morphed into something more recognisable, a whistling sound. The sound of someone working, someone jovially passing the time with a jolly tune.

She tried to move again but her limbs felt too heavy and she swallowed hard as she fought with her drowsy body. Her eyes started to flicker open and she quickly closed them again as a bright light blinded her momentarily. With a wince she tried to open only one eye, ever so slightly. She could see an industrial light hanging above her, above her. She realised she was laying down, realised that she was on a hard surface and laying down.

Her eyes began to adjust to the light and she attempted to lift her arm but it was stuck, not heavy limbs this time but rather a physical barrier. She opened her eyes more fully and craned her neck down to see that she was strapped to a metal table, a large leather strap held her down tightly across her stomach and her wrists were bound to the handles of the gurney. Her legs were also completely immobilised and she began to panic. Her attempted movements caught the attention of the source of the whistling and a man turned around to regard her. He was in his mid-thirties, short receding hair and wore scruffy clothes, he had a manic look in his eyes but there was something familiar about him.

"Hello Regina," he smiled down at her.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Emma looked at the screen on her phone which displayed a map with a blinking red dot and looked up at the large multi-storey car park in front of her.

"Shit," she mumbled as she looked around and ran a hand through her long blonde hair in frustration.

Realisation dawned on her and she accessed her contacts and called Henry's mobile, after a few seconds he answered, "hey, Mom, where are you?"

"Hey, I'm.. still running errands, sorry, Kid.." Emma bit her lip, she hated lying to him.

"It's okay, Frank is well cool, we're tracking this bad guy and he uses a phone but he masks it behind other phones.." Henry started explaining excitedly.

"Yeah, he said, look.. Henry.. when you were out with your Mom and Skye.. did you take the car or the subway?" Emma asked with a hopeful expression.

"We took Skye's car," Henry said before asking, "why?"

"Can you tell me anything about her car?" Emma asked. Henry had no interest in cars and living in Storybrooke didn't really provide him with much reference for modern cars.

"Er," Henry thought, "it's red.."

"Okay, anything else?" Emma asked, "how many doors did it have?"

"Two, like Mom's.." Henry answered, "it's new.."

"Anything else?" Emma asked as she approached the car park looking for red sports cars and finding quite a few already.

"It's got white stripes," Henry casually added.

"Stripes? Where?" Emma asked as she started jogging along the rows of cars.

"Down the side, across the doors," Henry replied, "Mom.. what's going on?"

Emma spotted the car she was looking for and took a deep breath as she stealthily walked along the row of cars, keeping a low profile, "Henry.. I.." she started.

"It's Mom isn't it? Something is going on.. you can tell me," Henry said seriously and Emma almost forgot how young he was.

"Yeah, something is up, I think your Mom might need my help, Kid," Emma said honestly, "but I'm doing everything I can and I promise you that everything is going to be okay.. just give me some time to figure this out, stay with Frank and I'll come and get you as soon as I can, okay?"

She could picture Henry nodding in her mind's eye, "okay.. just don't lie to me, okay?"

"Okay," Emma said, "I have to go now but I'll be back in touch really soon, okay?"

"Okay, I love you," Henry said in a whisper.

"I love you too," Emma smiled and hung up the phone.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Don't worry," the man said, "the effects of the drug will wear off soon and then you'll be back to normal."

Regina pulled on the restraints again, "who are you?"

"It's been a while, I'm not surprised you don't remember me," he replied with a sneer.

Regina's mind whirled as she wondered who it could have been, she fought through the heavy mist in her mind but it was difficult to grasp threads.

"This won't take long," he told her as he exited the room behind her, she strained to try to see where he had gone but it was no use. A few moments later he returned with a large piece of electrical equipment on wheels and pushed it so it was next to the gurney she was strapped to.

"Of course, when you met me, I was much younger," he said as he picked up some gel electrodes and approached her, "I was just a boy," he said as he tugged on the sleeve of her navy blue shirt and placed an electrode on the inside of her forearm.

He leaned over her and smiled, "is it becoming any clearer yet?"

He was so close she could feel his breath on her face and she stared into his eyes as recognition finally dawned on her and she whispered, "Owen?"

He smiled, "good, it's coming back to you," he attached two more electrodes to her temples.

Regina began to worry at what his intentions were, "what do you want?"

Owen attached another electrode to her other arm, "I just want to know.. where my father is.."

"Your father?" Regina half-laughed.

"Don't do that.. don't do that," Owen stammered angrily as he stood beside the machine and picked up some cables, "don't joke.."

Regina swallowed but maintained a superior tone, "he left town, right after you ran away."

Owen smirked, "and he didn't come to find his only son? I don't think so.."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Emma quickly opened the passenger door and climbed into the car and slammed the door behind her before turning to look at Skye with a wide grin, "hey, Buddy!"

"What the fuck?!" Skye screamed in shock and jumped back in her seat.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did I scare you?" Emma said with faux concern, "I just wanted to apologise.."

Skye stared at the blonde in shock and made a move for the car door but Emma quickly grabbed her hand and after a brief struggle handcuffed her to the steering wheel of the car.

"How am I supposed to say sorry if you run away?" Emma asked with confusion.

"What do you want?" Skye sneered at her as she struggled against the wheel.

"Where's Regina?" Emma asked.

"Who cares?" Skye shrugged.

"Huh," Emma nodded before quickly grabbing the back of Skye's head and throwing her face into the steering wheel, "you must have not heard me, I asked where Regina is?"

Emma lifted her up by her hair and looked impatiently at the young woman, "I'm on a bit of schedule though.."

"I don't know," Skye whispered as Emma crashed her head back into the wheel.

"I think you do," Emma smiled as she lifted her back up.

"I swear, I don't know.. they took her!" Skye said quickly before Emma could bring her forehead down again.

"Who's they?" Emma scowled.

"Tony's boys," Skye said as she sniffed some blood that was falling down her nostrils again.

"You see, what you did to Regina has pissed me off," Emma explained slowly, "but the fact you have information that I want and you're not giving it to me.. well that really pisses me off."

"Wait! Please wait!" Skye said as she tried to hold her body back from the wheel.

"Talk fast," Emma shouted.

"Some guy, Greg something.. he wanted Regina.. we were gonna scam her but you warned her and she started asking weird questions. I knew I was losing her trust so Tony said we'd sell her out to Greg instead. Tony got his boys to drug her and take her to Greg, but I swear I don't know where that is!"

"That's a shame for your face," Emma sighed as she tightened her grip in Skye's hair.

"Wait! I can find out!" Skye pleaded.

"Why would I trust you?" Emma laughed, "you're a con!"

"Let me talk to Tony! Please! I can find out where they took her!" Skye pleaded.

"Okay, but I'm going to be right here while you do it," Emma said as she grabbed Skye's mobile phone from her bag.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Owen walked over to Regina and started to attach cables to Regina's fingers with clamps. He leaned close to her face as he attached the cables to the electrodes on her temples, "I'd start talking if I were you," he said gently.

Regina just rolled her eyes, "is this supposed to scare me?"

He nodded, "it should do, this method of extracting information can get unpleasant."

Regina swallowed hard and stared up at the ceiling with a tough determination to not be intimidated.

"How unpleasant, well," Owen smiled as he gently stroked her hair, "that is entirely up to you, Regina."

Regina continued to ignore him and he returned to the machine and started pressing some buttons to activate the electrical current. He turned a dial from the bottom setting to a tenth of the available power and turned to the brunette, "so, Regina, where.. is.. my.. father?"

Regina took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling. Owen scrunched his face in anger and pressed the red button that sent a shock through Regina's body and she winced and moaned at the painful sensations coursing through her body.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"What?" a male voice answered the call with frustration. Emma held the phone up between herself and Skye and kept her other hand firmly embedded in the redhead's hair, ready to bring down another swift blow if necessary.

"Tony, where did the boys take Regina?" Skye asked casually, "she's.. got a key for a safe, I thought it was in the apartment but the bitch must have it on her."

"For fucks sake," Tony replied, "I keep telling you to get copies made!"

"I know, I know," Skye said, "just.. tell me where they took her and I'll go and get it myself, my mess, I know."

"I dunno where she is," Tony said, "that guys was a wacko, he took her."

Skye's eyes flew open and Emma stared at her.

"What do you mean, wacko?" Skye asked.

"He wanted her drugged and the boys to meet him at the car park by the warehouses at East Street, when they got there he put her in a car and drove off. Didn't say a word. God knows what he is doing to her.."

Emma felt her fist tighten in Skye's hair and the young woman shifted uncomfortably, "can we contact him?"

"What's in this safe anyway?" Tony asked.

"Jewellery.." Skye said, "and cash, lots of it, she didn't trust the banks.."

"Get the boys to take the whole safe, we'll blow it later," Tony said.

"There's cameras in her building.." Skye said quickly.

"You told me there weren't?" Tony questioned.

"They're new, like in the last couple of days," Skye added.

"Fuck," Tony said, "we'll have to leave it, not worth it. Especially if she ends up dead, we don't want to be involved in this anymore."

"O-okay, Tony," Skye hesitated and Emma quickly hung up the phone and threw it on top of the dashboard. For the first time in her life Skye wisely remained silent as she watched Emma fight to control her temper.

"Do you know what I do?" Emma said quietly as she held firmly onto Skye's hair and looked absently out of the window.

"Y-you're a Sheriff.." Skye stuttered.

"Yes.. but that's not what I do.." Emma shook her head, "I find people.. it's kinda like a family business thing. We're good at finding people," she turned to look at Skye, "so, here's what's gonna happen. I am going to find Regina while you hand yourself in to the police and admit your crimes. Because, if you don't, I'm going to find you, because, it's what I do.. and I will hurt you so bad. And, here's some more motivation for you, if I find Regina and she is in anyway hurt.. I will find you and kill you. Slowly. The only thing that will save your life is if you hand yourself over to the cops and they can protect your sorry ass from me."

Skye swallowed hard and tears fell down her face as Emma looked at her calmly as if she hadn't just threatened her life, "am I being clear? I want to just make sure you really understand me."

Skye nodded as much as she could with the firm hand holding her hair still.


	23. Chapter 23

Once Owen had realised that Regina wasn't going to answer his questions he knew he would have to break the proud woman down. He knew Regina was the Evil Queen, probably used to torturing people as well as being tortured herself and she wasn't going to break easily. He asked her various questions about the location of his father but he knew no answer would be coming as he slammed his hand back onto the button time and time again. Occasionally he would turn the dial up a little and then watch with satisfaction how Regina's body would tense and arch involuntarily off of the gurney.

She had no idea how much time had passed, she tried to force her mind to let go of the pain she was feeling and to take herself away from this terrible place. She started to think of Henry and she smiled despite the electrical current passing through her body. Memories presented themselves in her mind in a long stream, various dinners, Christmas days, his first day at school, helping with his homework. It wasn't long before the memories turned darker and she recalled the sulkiness, the arguments and the love he held for her drifting away.

Another jolt of electricity shot through her body and she winced against the strength of it and tried to focus on something else, anything else. She saw Skye in her memories. She tried to focus on the good times, tried to pretend that it was real. If she was going to die here on this table at the hands of this madman the least she could do was convince herself that somewhere deep down, Skye had loved her.

But her traitorous mind drifted back to the last conversation they'd had, where Regina had told Skye of Emma's supposed alcoholism. The redhead seemed to think nothing of leaving her son with an alcoholic with access to firearms. Her attempts to convince Regina to abandon Henry had sealed her fate. She had been about to tell Skye to get out when a knock on the door interrupted her. After that it was a haze, she was being held down, someone injected something into her arm, Skye's face standing above her, it went dark.

Not Regina just wished it would go dark.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Emma paced Frank's office anxiously and Frank raised his eyebrow at her, "you're scaring the kid," he said softly.

Emma turned to look at Henry who was in the other room looking at a map on a computer and navigating the mouse cursor around the screen.

"I shouldn't have left.." Emma whispered, "I should have stayed there, then she wouldn't be missing now."

"Or you'd both be missing," Frank added, "or dead."

Emma looked at him and worried her lip, "I don't know what to do, we don't have anything else to go on.."

"We're getting close to finding Mendell's mobile number," Frank said calmly, "we've also got this Tony's number which has given us the numbers of the kidnappers, they called him just before you left and not long after which is standard procedure.. it has to be them. We're looking into CCTV in East Street, we will find her."

Emma nodded and swallowed her anxiety down, "what can I do?"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"You know, Regina, you're not exactly being cooperative," Owen said with a shake of the head as he pushed some buttons on the device distributing the electrical bursts, "but that's all about to change, right?"

He pushed the button again and Regina bit down hard to prevent from giving him the pleasure of hearing her cry out in pain. Her body juddered as the shock penetrated her body until he released the button and she flopped back onto the gurney.

She took a few deep breaths before speaking, "you have no idea who you are dealing with," her voice sounded deep and raspy.

Owen laughed, "no, it's you who has no idea who you are dealing with."

Regina chuckled as she found some more strength in her voice, "a foolish little boy, in over his head."

"Brave words, for someone in your position," Owen taunted as he pushed the button again and watched with satisfaction as Regina's body arched and shook.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"This is weird," Henry spoke up from the computer.

"What's that, Kid?" Emma asked as she attempted to uncover masked telephone numbers on her own computer.

"The bad guy is called Greg Mendell, right?" Henry asked, "but he used to be called Owen Flynn, yeah?"

"That's right," Frank said as he lowered a couple of printouts he was reading from and looked over his glasses at Henry.

"Could be also be Owen Mendell?" Henry asked with a frown.

"Anything's possible when it comes to criminals," Frank said.

"Because, there was a lady who died, Martha Flynn and she left her house to Owen Flynn in her will," Henry said as he pointed at the screen, "because there was no money involved, it just became his, that's right isn't it?"

Frank walked over and looked at Henry's screen with a nod, "that's right.."

"But Owen Flynn sold the house to Owen Mendell," Henry frowned, "why would he sell the house to himself?"

"To launder money," Frank said and then smiled, "and to throw people off the trail, Swan, get your car!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Regina's body crashed down heavily on the gurney as another shock dissipated.

Owen stood over her body and leaned close in to her, her skin was covered in a thin sheen of sweat and the rims of her eyes were red, "come on, Regina, it's just one simple question," he smiled.

"Go to hell," Regina whispered hoarsely.

Owen gave her a lopsided smile, "that's not the answer I'm looking for and I have run out of patience."

He stepped back to the machine and turned the knob from its relatively low setting to almost the highest setting and Regina swallowed hard as her eyes went wide at the thought of what was coming next.

She turned away from him and scrunched her eyes closed tightly to tune out her surroundings.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Frank's voice sounded loudly in the Bug from the speaker of Emma's mobile phone, "we have the CCTV from East Street, he is driving a dark green Focus, we're trying to get a better view of the plate."

Emma looked up at the detached house in front of her and saw the green car on the drive, "don't worry, it's here, it's at the house.."

"Be careful, Swan," Frank's voice said seriously.

Emma adjusted her service weapon in its holster under her jacket, "I will be."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Owen had given Regina a small taste of the higher level shock and her head lulled uselessly from side to side, "ready to talk? Or do you want some more?"

He reached for the button and Regina croaked, "wait.."

Owen turned and looked at her and her glassy eyes made contact with his, "where is he?"

Regina looked at him for a few moments before her lip curled up into a sneer and she murmured, "dead.."

She took satisfaction from his distraught expression and continued raspingly, "I killed him.. the minute you ran away.."

"No.." Owen pointed at her, "you're.. you're lying.."

"I buried his body in your campsite," Regina grinned before taking a deep breath, "now go ahead and kill me.."

Owen turned to look at the machine.

"I just wanted to see the look on your face when I.."

Owen slammed his fist onto the button and Regina screamed out in pain.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Emma kicked the front door in and pulled out her gun and quickly cleared the rooms in the darkened house. She heard a muffled scream and stood silently in the hallway as she tried to ascertain where it was coming from.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Owen held his hand over the button and watched with hatred as Regina's rigid body strained against the restraints. She whimpered in pain as the charge ran through her body until he released the button and her body crashed back to the gurney and slumped weakly down.

"You feel that?" Owen mocked her, "that's the end of you!"

He slammed his palm over the button and Regina's body tensed again she moaned and whimpered as her body had no fight left in it and there was no energy for the scream she desperately wanted to release to be freed.

"Now, you're never gonna hurt anyone.. ever again," Owen said as Regina started to lose consciousness. He held his hand near the button when the sound of a door being kicked open shocked him and he spun around to see someone coming down the wooden stairs and into the cellar.

"Police!" a female voice called out and Owen quickly turned and opened a small window beside him and pulled his body out and into the garden.

"Hey!" he heard the voice behind him call and felt a hand on his foot but he managed to kick it off and ran across the lawn.


	24. Chapter 24

Emma turned away from the window and took the scene in as she holstered her gun. Regina appeared to be unconscious and Emma looked at the machine she was wired to and carefully started to disconnect the wires from the machine before locating what looked like the main power switch and turning it off.

Turning around she gently approached the gurney and softly whispered, “Regina?”

There was no response and she started to remove the metal grips from the brunette’s fingers and winced at the red marks that were left behind. She quickly removed the metal grips and threw the cables across the room and delicately took Regina’s face in her hands and positioned it to face her. She was concerned at how little resistance she felt and she stroked Regina’s cheeks with her thumbs in what she hoped would soothe and wake the older woman.

“Regina? Can you hear me?”

When there was no response forthcoming she removed her hands from Regina’s face and gently removed the gel electrodes and grimaced at the red burn marks that remained underneath them.

“What the hell did he do to you?” Emma whispered as she fumbled with the large buckles on the leather restraints and removed them to reveal heavy bruising underneath.

Regina’s head flopped to one side as her eyes fought to open and Emma gasped and gently took the brunette’s face in her hands again, “Regina, are you okay?”

Chocolate eyes roamed around the room, unable to focus on anything and Emma tried to smile but the sight of those red-rimmed eyes worried her. She saw Regina trying to move slightly and fighting against the ankle restraints, “let me get those off of you..” Emma said and quickly but gently removed them.

Emma took a step back and ran her hand through her hair, “we need to get you to the hospital..”

“No,” Regina croaked quietly and Emma leaned in closer.

“Regina..” Emma started in a warning tone.

“No..” Regina struggled to speak but the conviction in her voice was as strong as ever, “hospital..”

Emma grimaced and slowly nodded, “okay, but if you get worse of you haven’t improved by the morning then we’re going to revisit this conversation..”

Regina seemed to visibly ease and her eyes flickered closed. Emma watched her and got her phone out of her pocket and quickly called Frank.

“Swan?” Frank answered quickly.

“I have her,” Emma said.

“And.. is she?” Frank asked.

“She’s been.. tortured, electrocuted.. but I think she’s going to be okay,” Emma said as she tried to calm her voice. Admitting out loud what was happening had suddenly hit her.

“Okay,” Frank said neutrally and Emma realised that Henry was with him.

“I’m going to take her back to the hotel, she’ll be safe there and can rest. Can you bring Henry by in around an hour? So I can get her settled?”

“Sure, do you need me to do anything?” Frank asked gently.

“I.. I don’t know, I’ll let you know,” Emma stammered before saying goodbye and hanging up the phone. She looked at Regina, “so, are you gonna make these easy or are you gonna make this difficult?”

Regina just laid there her chest gently rising and falling in time with her breathing.

“Difficult, it is,” Emma rolled her eyes and she hooked one arm under Regina’s knees and the other under her back and lifted her. She took a step back and readjusted her grip and slowly made her way to the stairs.

An hour later Emma anxiously watched the rise and fall of Regina’s breathing to convince herself that the brunette was okay. She had woken a couple of times in the car and once when Emma placed her on one of the hotel room beds but she quickly drifted off again once she saw Emma was there.

A quiet knock on the door sounded and Emma quickly walked over to the door and checked through the peephole who was on the other side. She saw Frank standing there with his hand on the shoulder of an anxious looking Henry.

She looked over to Regina who looked like she was simply sleeping and then opened the door and smiled at the two of them, “hey,” she stepped to one side, “come on in..”

Henry looked at Regina with wide eyes and then looked at Emma in confusion, “sit down,” Emma said softly to Henry as she indicated the edge of the empty bed nearest the door.

He sat down and strained his neck around to look at Regina as Emma knelt in front of him and spoke, “some bad people hurt your Mom today, but she’s going to be fine, she needs to rest and then she’ll be fine, okay?”

“What happened?” Henry asked as he turned to look at Emma with concerned eyes.

“The man we were looking for, Greg Mendell?” Emma said quietly, “he took your Mom but because of you and Frank,” she held her hand up and grabbed Frank’s hand and gave it a squeeze, “we managed to get her back again.”

“S-she’s going to be okay?” Henry asked as he strained his neck around again to look at Regina.

“Yeah,” Emma smiled, “we’re going to keep her safe.”

Henry nodded, he clearly wanted to know more and to understand everything but the shock of seeing his Mom had bought Emma some time. She stood up and turned to Frank and have a tight smile and he nodded and pulled her into an embrace, “I’m going to find him, don’t you worry,” Frank said as he gave Emma a reassuring squeeze before stepping back.

“I’ll catch up with you both tomorrow,” Frank said as he nodded to Henry and let himself out.

Emma locked the door behind him and when she turned around Henry had walked over to stand beside Regina. She crossed over and stood beside him, “I know it looks bad, Kid..”

“What’s that?” Henry interrupted and pointed to the angry red mark on Regina’s temple.

“I.. I’m not sure,” Emma said as she didn’t know how to explain it to the young boy.

“Should we put her to bed?” Henry looked up at her with innocent eyes and Emma looked at Regina and froze. She knew he was right but she felt somehow wrong undressing Regina while she was out cold but then she looked at Henry and nodded.

She looked down at Regina’s boots which sat underneath her black trousers, “we should probably take those boots off,” she said.

“Yeah, no shoes on the bed,” Henry whispered with a ghost of a smile.

Emma grabbed one leg while Henry grabbed the other, they each pulled up a trouser leg until they could reach the zip of the boots and then unzipped and gently pulled off each boot. Emma took them and placed them by the desk.

“Should we undress her?” Henry said with a frown and looked at Emma.

Emma looked at the brunette with her dark blue shirt and black trousers and shook her head, “no, I think we should leave her like that for now, we don’t have anything to change her into and we should probably let her rest..”

Henry nodded, “what’s for dinner?”

Emma stared at him, “seriously, Kid?”

“What?” Henry shrugged, “I’m hungry..”

Emma looked at her watch and realised that dinner time had long since passed and if she admitted it to herself she was also hungry. She nodded, “okay, I’m going to get some food but you stay here with your Mom.”

Henry nodded and sat on the side of the other bed and looked at Regina in front of him.

“Don’t an..” Emma started.

“Don’t answer the door,” Henry nodded, “got it..”

“Or the..” Emma continued.

“.. phone.. I won’t,” Henry smiled up at her.

Emma stepped over to him and ruffled his hair and have him a kiss on the forehead, “I won’t be long, okay?”

“Okay, Mom,” Henry said and watched her as she grabbed her coat and, with one final look and smile at the two of them, left the room.

Henry sat quietly and looked at his mother with pensive eyes, Emma hadn’t gone into much detail but he knew that was to protect him. Whatever had happened had been serious, he could see how worried Emma was and the shine in her eyes generally meant she was trying to stop herself from crying. He wondered if Skye had something to do with this, because if she loved his Mom then surely she’d be there now.

“Henry?” a raspy voice whispered and he looked up to see his Mom’s eyes open and fixed on him.

“Mom!” Henry smiled and slid off of the bed and climbed onto the other to sit beside his mother.

“Henry,” she smiled and attempted to hold his hand, after a couple of attempts he put his small hand in hers and smiled at her.

“You’re safe now, Mom,” he said with a grin.

Regina smiled gratefully and looked around the room with her eyes, conscious not to move her head or the throbbing pain would return, “where are we?”

“In the hotel,” Henry said and frowned as he noticed the rough voice, “should I get you some water?”

Regina’s hand tightened on Henry’s, “no,” she said quickly, “just stay with me a while longer..”

Henry smiled, “I’m not going anywhere, Mom.”


	25. Chapter 25

When Emma returned she was relieved to see that Regina and Henry were talking, “you’re awake..” Emma smiled at Regina as she placed paper bags of takeout food on the desk.

Henry stood up and walked over to the desk to have a look in the bags and Emma walked over to the edge of the bed and looked down at Regina with relief.

“Almost,” Regina croaked, “I think I’d rather be asleep..”

“Can I get you anything?” Emma asked, “food, water, medicine?”

Regina started to shake her head but stopped and winced at the action as soon as she started it and Emma grimaced in sympathy.

“You should probably try to at least drink some water..” Emma tried again but she could see that Regina’s eyelids were already starting to close. She watched the older woman fall into a slumber and then turned to Henry who had unpacked food from the bag and was already sat at the desk and starting to eat.

Emma crossed over and picked up some fries and started to eat them, “did she say anything?”

Henry shrugged, “she said she was fine, but she was lying.”

Emma nodded, “you know why she is lying though, right?”

“Because she doesn’t want me to be scared,” Henry said with a small nod of the head.

“Exactly, she’s in a lot of pain and she doesn’t want to worry you,” Emma said as she ate some more fries.

“Will she be better in the morning?” Henry asked as he took a huge bite of his cheese burger.

“I hope so,” Emma said with a sigh.

“And then can we all go home?” Henry asked as he looked up at Emma with pleading eyes.

“I.. I don’t know, Henry, it’s kinda up to your Mom what she wants to do,” Emma said with a shrug.

“But you can’t protect her if she lives here, she needs to come home, to Storybrooke, with us,” Henry implored her.

“Kid, it’s not up to me,” Emma said and Henry opened his mouth to speak again and she held up her hand, “look, before you say anything else, why don’t we just wait until your Mom is better and see what she says?”

Henry turned to look at Regina and nodded, “okay,” he looked from Regina to the empty bed, “where are you going to sleep tonight?”

“With you,” Emma said, “like old times when you used to crash at Mary Margaret’s.”

“But you said I kick,” Henry smiled.

“I’ve learnt to kick back,” Emma grinned.

Henry told Emma about his day with Frank and all the stuff he had learnt and before long it was time for bed. Emma sent Henry into the bathroom to get ready for bed and into his pyjamas. She cleared away the food and placed the salad she got for Regina in the fridge along with some of the drinks. Then she cleared Henry’s bag and belongings off of the bed and closed the curtains and switched on the bedside lamp.

Henry was still in the bathroom and Emma was out of things to do so she booted up her laptop with the intention of killing some time online until she felt tired enough to go to sleep. The day had been so stressful that she could still feel adrenaline coursing through her body.

While the laptop was booting up she walked over to check on Regina, gently sitting on the edge of the bed she looked at the brunette and examined her features. Her skin colour still looked quite grey but the angry red marks where the electrodes had been on her skin had started to calm down. Emma gently pushed back a few strands of hair that were stuck to Regina’s face and stared at the unresponsive woman, she’d never considered it before but Regina really was stunning. 

She was jolted from her thoughts by Henry running out of the bathroom and jumping into bed. Emma smiled at him and tucked him in as she asked him, “story?”

“I’m eleven,” Henry rolled his eyes and Emma assumed that meant no but she kissed him on the forehead regardless, “I’m going to sit up for a while.”

He nodded and let out a big yawn as he turned and nuzzled into his pillow.

When Emma sits down at the desk she’s not surprised to see she had a message from Mary Margaret waiting for her, “how are you?”

Closely followed by, “what is happening?”

“I don’t think you’d believe me if I told you!” Emma quickly replied.

“try me.” Mary Margaret’s message appeared.

Emma wrote several essays about what had happened that day, every time she sent a chunk of text a pencil indicated Mary Margaret starting to reply but as she constructed a reply Emma sent another load of text. When Emma finally got done telling the whole story she wrote “the end” and sent that too.

She leaned back and watched the pencil wiggle before “oh my god!” came back.

“is Regina okay??” Mary Margaret asked.

Emma looked over at the sleeping woman and then back to the screen, “I think so. I’ll know more in the morning.”

“bring her home!” Mary Margaret replied.

Emma smiled as she typed back “are we on the kidnap thing again?”

“why not? You have already half kidnapped her.”

Emma nodded, her mother made a valid point. She let out a yawn and realised that the day was catching up with her and she typed a message back, “I’ll try to convince her to come back. We’ll call kidnap plan B for now!”

“ok honey.” Mary Margaret replied, “get some rest!”

Emma powered down the laptop and stood up and stretched. She opened the wardrobe and picked up her white tank top and grey cotton shorts that she was using for sleepwear and walked into the bathroom to get ready for bed. 

Ten minutes later she came back into the main room and looked around to check everything was okay, she looked at Regina and walked over to the bed and brought the comforter up and covered the brunette in case she got cold during the night. She walked around to the other side of Henry’s bed and climbed in quietly beside him, thankful for booking a room with two king sized beds.

She drifted along the edge of consciousness, not quite ready to let herself go into the world of sleep but too weary to remain fully awake. The image of Regina’s face when Emma told her her suspicions about Skye popped up into her mind and she tried to shake it off. Her mind unhelpfully started to relive the moment she walked down the stairs into the cellar and seeing Regina strapped to the gurney and suddenly Greg launching himself towards the window. She felt a tear track down her face as she remembered the screams and the other noises Regina had made while Emma was trying to find the door to the cellar.

Through the mist of being half awake she could hear a noise, a quiet moan and suddenly a gently cry out, “no.. please..” Emma realised that Regina was having a nightmare and just as she was about to get up out of bed she felt Henry shift beside her.

He slid out of bed and quickly padded over to Regina’s bed and climbed in under the comforter and gently wrapped his arms around her, “it’s okay, Mom, you’re safe,” he said softly. Emma felt the tears fall down her face as she picked out the shadows of the scene and smiled at her son. Their son.

Regina seemed to instantly calm and before long Emma could hear the gentle sounds of both their breathing returning to a sleeping pattern. Looking at the clock and realising it was just after midnight she turned to lay on her back and stared up into the darkness and tried to clear her mind to let sleep over take her. After a while she fell into a light sleep interspersed with scenes from throughout the day. Emma had always liked to take control of her dreams, it was something she had discovered as a child. She rarely suffered from nightmares as her subconscious would simply dive in and fix everything that was going wrong in her dreams. 

She saw herself using mind control on Skye and getting her to spill all of her secrets to Regina. Regina sending Skye away and seeking comfort in Emma’s arms. Then she saw herself rescuing Regina before Greg even had a chance to tie her to that awful metal gurney. Through the haze of her dreams she could hear a noise, a slight whimpering and it quickly brought her back to reality and she sat up and looked around the room.

In the darkness she could see that Regina was shifting around again and was becoming distressed. Without thinking, Emma jumped out of bed and walked around to the other side of the bed and climbed in under the comforter on the other side of Regina and took the brunette into her arms like she had done in her dream. Regina stilled and fell back into a peaceful sleep. Emma had only meant to hold her for a few moments but the exhaustion started to kick in and before long she was asleep.


	26. Chapter 26

Regina was the first to awaken but it wasn't like waking up from a normal sleep and she frowned as she was returning to consciousness. Before she even dared to open her eyes she knew she had a headache and that her muscles ached. She was laying on her back and felt Henry beside her, he'd pulled her arm around him like he always would do as a child when he'd had a nightmare and came to her room. She smiled as she remembered feeling like the most important person in the world that Henry would come to her in his time of need.

Yes she was a Queen and then a Mayor, yes she was a powerful woman but those positions were fought for and not always respected. Being the person a child chooses to seek solace in is something given freely and cannot be manipulated. She gently squeezed his arm to comfort him as she thought he must have had a terrible nightmare to come to her now, especially considering how things had been between them of late.

Her eyes flickered open and she could see the bright morning light against the dark curtains giving the room enough illumination for her to see that it was not her bedroom. In Storybrooke nor in Boston. She could sense that there was something important that she hadn't quite grasped yet and she tried to shake the cobwebs out of her mind to get to that important information.

That's when she realised she wasn't alone, there were three people in the bed. The pain in her muscles prevented her from instantly turning to see who was there so she dug further into her scattered memories. Skye, she remembered Skye.. but she had left, she wasn't real.

"Regina, are you awake?"

She froze. Emma Swan.

"Regina, I know you're awake, are you okay?"

Emma raised herself up on her elbow so she could see Regina's face and Regina saw soft blonde curls fall around her face. Regina made eye contact with the blonde and stared at her with confusion.

"You're starting to worry me," Emma whispered, "are you okay?"

Regina continued to stare at her in confusion, so many questions were racing through her mind and she didn't want to ask them through fear of appearing weak. She was content to wait while her mind slowly put the pieces together. The look of mild panic on Emma Swan's face was actually a bonus.

"You.. saved me?" Regina croaked, in almost a question. She frowned at the deep rasping voice that she didn't recognise.

Emma smiled that goofy, ridiculous smile and nodded slowly as she reached up and brushed some hair from Regina's face.

"Owen.." Regina muttered as the memory came flooding back to her. She winced.

Emma frowned before she understood and then nodded.

"He got away," Emma replied bitterly.

Regina nodded, "he wants to kill me."

Emma frowned, "why? Who is he?"

Regina smiled a smirk, she didn't really find it funny but it was a good defensive mechanism, she was about to tell someone who seemingly could stand to be near her just how evil she was, "I killed his father."

Emma nodded slowly, "so he's from the Enchanted Forest?"

"No," Regina rasped, "he is from your world, the curse, Storybrooke, landed right on top of their campsite."

Realisation flickered across Emma's eyes and Regina prepared herself for the blonde to leave, not sure why that suddenly felt like a bad thing.

"Why.." Emma started with a frown and Regina waited for the younger woman to barrage her with questions of how she could do such a terrible thing.

"Why did he torture you?" Emma questioned, "why didn't he just kill you?"

Confusion flooded Regina's features before she finally replied, "he thought his father was still alive, he wanted me to tell him where he was."

"And you told him.. you told the man who was electrocuting you.. that you killed his father?" Emma asked in exasperation, "why didn't you tell him to let you go? Lie to him and say you'd take him to his father?"

Regina let out a small, low chuckle, careful not to wake Henry, "why would I do that?"

"To live," Emma said obviously.

"Why would I want to do that?" Regina mumbled.

"Because of our son," Emma said with a flash of anger.

Regina flinched at the tone and Emma quickly continued, "you don't deserve to die, Regina.. you know that, right?"

Regina remained still and silent.

"You've been to hell and back, I know," Emma whispered, "and I'm sorry that Skye scammed you, I'm sorry you didn't find the love that you deserve to have but you need to know that you do deserve love, Regina. Everyone deserves love."

Regina smirked, "love doesn't work out very well for me. And I'm not very good at loving someone."

"You love with everything you have," Emma nodded, "that's a good thing, not a bad thing."

Regina shook her head gently and opened her mouth to speak but Emma put a single finger to the brunette's lips to hush the woman, "no, no talking, you need to hear this. I know that Snow told your mother about Daniel but that is not your fault. Your mother killed Daniel, not you and not Snow. And even if Snow hadn't said anything your mother was a powerful woman and she would have found you and killed him anyway. It's not your fault, it's your mother's. Skye, well, she was a manipulative bitch who saw your big heart and took advantage, she saw that you are so very, very good at loving someone and she manipulated that and that is her fault, not yours. And, Henry," she glanced at the boy before looking back at Regina, "Henry is a kid, he says things he doesn't mean but in his heart he loves you, he can't live without you and he is the most loving and kind kid I have ever met and that's because of you. You taught him about love and, yeah, you may be a bit strict at times but even Henry knows that's because you love him more than you love yourself."

Emma removed her finger and shook her head as she smiled, "you are not to blame, you just haven't found the right person to love yet."

Regina could feel the pressure of where Emma's finger had been placed on her lips and let out the breath she had been holding.

Emma glanced at the clock behind Regina, "okay, it's time to get up," the blonde said, "oh, and by the way, you are coming back to Storybrooke with us. I'm taking my mother's advice for a change and I'm kidnapping you."

Regina blinked and her lip curled up into a small smile as she gave Emma an 'oh really' look but remained silent.

"And there's no point in trying to stop me, you're as weak as a kitten and I'm determined. We'll pack up your things and then you're coming home. End of," Emma said with a nod.


	27. Chapter 27

Regina opened her mouth to reply but before she had a chance to Emma had climbed out of bed and was holding her arms taught above her head to stretch out her back muscles. Regina found herself staring at the blonde who had essentially just told her she intended to kidnap her and found herself smiling. Emma opened the curtains and let some of the morning sunshine into the room, the action woke Henry.

"Mom," Henry whispered through a yawn as he rubbed his eyes.

"Henry," Regina smiled and tilted her head to the side to snuggle into him.

"Are you feeling better?" Henry asked as he turned and gave his mother a full body cuddle like he would do when he was younger.

"Yes, Sweetheart," Regina said as she brushed a kiss over Henry's forehead.

"Awesome," Henry smiled and got up and out of the bed and walked over to the fridge to get a bottle of water, "can I use the bathroom first?"

Emma nodded, they'd had many a discussion at how long 'girls' took in the morning to get ready and Henry was always keen to get dressed and ready as soon as possible so he could start his day. He picked up some clothes and went into the bathroom and closed the door behind him.

"So," Regina croaked, "I'm to be kidnapped again?"

There was a ghost of a smile in her features and Emma nodded with a serious expression, "yes, well, technically you've already been kidnapped because you're here."

Emma picked up an apple from the bowl on the desk and took a bite of it and Regina smiled and bit her lip.

"What?" Emma asked with a mouthful of apple and a confused expression.

"It's very bright outside," Regina quietly commented.

Emma then realised she was stood in front of a sunny window wearing nothing more than a white tank top and some light grey cotton shorts, clearly giving Regina quite the eyeful. She took a deep breath and then shrugged her shoulders, "whatever," she said casually before taking another bite of her apple. She reasoned that if, on the second day she met Regina, she could answer the door in red lacy panties then the view Regina was getting now was nothing new.

Regina looked like she wanted to speak but at that moment Henry burst out of the bathroom, fully dressed and with toothpaste still on the corners of his mouth.

"Come here, Kid," Emma said as she took a few steps to meet him and wiped the toothpaste off with a finger.

Henry rolled his eyes and picked up his rucksack and started to rummage through it.

Emma turned to look at Regina with a smile but when Regina looked hesitant and glanced over at Henry purposefully Emma raised her eyebrow in a question and approached the brunette with a questioning look.

Regina whispered quietly and Emma had to lean in to hear, "I need to use the bathroom.. but I need help to get in there," she said with an embarrassed blush which put some much needed colour back on her cheeks, "and I don't want Henry to see me like that.."

"Henry," Emma announced as she stood up, "can you run down to the shop in the lobby for me?"

Henry nodded, "sure, Emma," he said as he pulled on his trainers.

Emma picked up a piece of paper and pen from the desk and wrote a few items down before adding to the bottom 'don't come back before 9, your Mom needs a few minutes'.

She handed the note to Henry and he quickly read the shopping list and the addition at the bottom and nodded with a smile. Emma reached into her pocket and gave him some money and then handed him a room key from the desk and he snuck out of the door and closed it behind him.

"Right," Emma said as she turned around and looked to Regina, "how do you want to do this?"

"Preferably, alone," Regina said through gritted teeth as she attempted to move herself into a seated position. Within seconds the thundering pain in her head had her swaying and Emma was quickly by her side and held her firmly by her upper arms.

"I don't think that's going to be an option," Emma said, "so, I suggest you suck it up and let me help you and then when you're feeling better you can kill me to keep your secret safe."

Regina gave her a smirk, "deal."

Emma stripped back the comforter and positioned herself under Regina's shoulder and turned the brunette so her feet were hanging off of the bed. Regina really was very weak and Emma hoped it was just exhaustion and that she would soon rally.

"I'm sorry," Regina said quietly.

"For what?" Emma frowned.

Regina chuckled, "for needing a saviour.."

Emma knelt beside the bed, "gives me something to do," she winked but found there was no humour in Regina's eyes.

"I was a fool, believing in Skye," Regina said simply, "you saw through her in a matter of seconds."

Emma stood up and helped Regina to her feet and stood still while the other woman regained some of her balance before answering, "I've seen Skye's type before, you haven't, there's no shame in not seeing the con. Many people fall for cons.."

"I just wanted to believe.." Regina started but then shook her head, "it doesn't matter.."

"Wanted to believe what?" Emma gently asked.

Regina tried to start walking and wobbled a little so Emma pulled one arm over her shoulders and wrapped the other protectively around Regina's waist. Slowly they made their way to the bathroom, Regina's strength picking up with every small step they took.

Once they got into the bathroom Emma awkwardly looked around the room, "erm.."

"Its fine, Miss Swan," Regina said as she sat on the edge of the bath, "I will be able to manage from here."

"Please don't call me that," Emma shook her head sadly.

Regina realised she had hit a nerve, "I'm sorry, it.. it's a defensive thing.."

Emma looked surprised that Regina was admitting and explaining and gave a small smile, "okay, I'm gonna.. leave you to it, if you need anything just shout, really, don't struggle.."

Regina nodded and Emma backed out of the bathroom and closed the door behind her. She took a deep breath and looked around the room as she wondered what the hell she was doing. Her mobile phone rang and disrupted her from her thoughts, she looked at the screen to see it was Frank.

"Hey, Frank," she answered with a smile.

"Swan, thought you might want to know that Skye Chapman, or Maureen Martin to use her real name, handed herself over to the cops late last night," Frank told her.

Emma smiled and nodded, "good, that's really good news."

"I told Kristina," Frank said, "she was very happy. She puts up a brave face but she's been scared to talk about what happened with Skye, it took her a long time before she approached me and she hesitated a lot before talking to you."

"Thank God she did," Emma said with a sigh as she opened a wardrobe door and picked out some clothes.

"She'd heard horror stories of the people who Skye hangs out with these days.. can't blame her for not wanting to speak up or go to the police. But she wants to see you again, she said she wants to thank you in person.." Frank said.

Emma looked at the closed bathroom door and had an idea, "sure, can you ask her if she'd be okay if I brought Regina along? I think it would help for Regina to hear from someone who has been in the situation how easy it is to fall for it.."

"Sure, how is she?" Frank asked.

"She's.. she's getting there," Emma admitted with a small grimace, "any news on Greg?"

"Not yet," Frank sighed, "but I'm working on it. I'm not going to let this one go."

"Thank you," Emma nodded her head, "I want to come in and help you but.."

"..you're needed there," Frank finished for her, "she needs you with her right now, she's been through a lot and she needs a friend. I'll call Kristina and check she's okay with Regina and you seeing her.. I'll let you know what she says."

"Thanks, Frank," Emma smiled and hung up the call.


	28. Chapter 28

Emma had quickly dressed while Henry was at the hotel shop and Regina was in the bathroom and was checking her emails on her laptop when she heard the door to the room open slightly. She turned around to see Henry poke his head through the door and look around as he whispered, “can I come in?”

Emma smiled and nodded as she silently pointed to the bathroom where Regina was getting ready. Henry came in and put a white paper bag on the desk beside Emma, “how is she?”

“She’s.. getting there,” Emma repeated her reply to Frank’s earlier question.

Henry frowned a little and visible deflated, he’d obviously hoped that his Mom would wake up completely better.

Emma bit the inside of her cheek as she considered how to explain to a small boy what was going on without telling him the details of what had happened to Regina, “Kid, you know when you’re sick, when you have a cold and you feel really rough?”

He nodded and she continued, “and your body just doesn’t wake up some mornings and it takes a while to get up and get the day started? That’s sort of what your Mom is going through now..”

“Is.. Skye coming back?” Henry asked hesitantly.

Emma took in a deep breath, Henry wasn’t clueless as to what was happening no matter how much both her and Regina tried to protect him he still knew when something was up.

“No, she’s not coming back,” Emma said simply.

“Did Mom dump her?” Henry asked.

“Why do you ask that?” Emma frowned.

Henry looked at Emma with an analytical stare and then shrugged, “no reason..”

Just as Emma was about to question him, the bathroom door unlocked and Regina slowly walked back into the room. She’d washed up and even though she was wearing the same clothes she was looking a lot better with her face washed clean and her hair brushed.

Emma smiled at her and pushed her laptop to one side as she stood up and gestured to the chair, “come and have some breakfast, I have fruit and croissants or I can go and get you something else?”

Regina gingerly walked over to the chair and sat down gratefully, “fruit and croissants are fine, thank you.”

The blonde quickly unpacked a few items of food and placed them on the table for Regina, “water or juice?”

“Juice, please, I feel quite drained,” Regina admitted.

Emma nodded and placed a bottle of apple and a bottle of orange juice on the table, “erm, I’m sorry but I have to run a couple of errands, I’ll probably be a couple of hours, is that okay?” Emma glanced from Henry to Regina with apprehension.

“Can I play on my game?” Henry asked with a smile and bright eyes.

“Can I sleep?” Regina said in an impression of Henry that made Emma grin.

“Sure,” Emma smiled at both of them, “but Henry keep your game on silent or put your headphones in, okay?”

Henry nodded and made a dive for his bag to get his handheld games console and his headphones. Emma looked at Regina as she put her coat on, “are you sure this is okay? I can stay..”

Regina had torn a croissant in half and was pouring some apple juice into a glass as she shook her head, “it’s fine, I need to rest anyway so it would be very dull for you to stay here, I can watch Henry while you.. do whatever it is you are doing?”

Emma ignored Regina’s question and nodded, “okay, I will have my phone with me so call me if you need anything, I mean it, anything at all..”

Regina rolled her eyes and Emma smiled, it was good to see that Regina was getting back to her old self. She watched as Regina ate a piece of croissant and then shook her head as she found herself staring and quickly glanced at Henry who had laid down on the bed with his game, “okay, I’ll.. I’ll be back as soon as I can..” she said as she grabbed a room key and left the room.

“Mom, can you throw me an apple?” Henry asked from the bed.

Regina picked up a green apple from the bowl and threw it towards him in a soft, underarm throw. 

“They’re not as good as your apples were,” Henry said before looking stricken that he had mentioned Regina’s former pride and joy that had been destroyed, “sorry, I guess I shouldn’t mention that..”

“It’s all right,” Regina said with a shrug, “these things happen..”

Henry looked at his mother who was picking at the croissant in front of her as he hesitated, “Emma.. told me.. what happened, in Storybrooke..”

Regina’s head snapped up and she looked at Henry in surprise.

“She didn’t tell me everything,” Henry quickly added to protect his birth mother from Regina’s ire, “but she said that someone hurt you.. b-because you couldn’t use magic..”

“Henry..” Regina tried to pacify him.

“I wanted to say sorry,” Henry pushed on as he looked at her with sincerity, “sorry that you couldn’t use magic to defend yourself, because of me.. and I’ve thought about it and it’s not right that you can’t use magic when you need to. It is like a part of you and I shouldn’t stop you from using it, as long as it’s for good stuff like protecting yourself..”

Regina looked surprised, “you’d be okay with me using magic?”

Henry nodded, “yeah.. you know, if you come back home..” he looked at her with anxious hope.

“We’ll see,” she gave him a lopsided smile at his transparency.

Henry grinned and picked up his games console again and Regina took another bite of croissant when she saw something flash on Emma’s laptop screen that had been pushed to one side for her to sit down. She angled her head round to look at the screen and saw a message from the username Snowisemmasmom and a message “hello Emma!” 

Regina let out a happy sigh and grinned an evil grin.


	29. Chapter 29

“Henry, I’m just going to check my email,” Regina announced as she pushed the half-eaten croissant to one side and slid the laptop in front of her.

“Okay, Mom,” Henry said without looking up as he played his game.

Regina smiled as she placed her fingers over the keyboard and pursed her lips in thought as she considered her next move. She smiled before typing, “hello!” back.

A little pencil at the bottom of the screen indicated that Mary Margaret was writing back and Regina waited to see if she would take the bait.

“we’ve been so worried, is everything ok? Is Regina ok?” the answer came back quickly.

Regina frowned, she hadn’t expected concern for her wellbeing from the young woman and she briefly wondered what Emma had told her.

“We are all ok.” Regina typed back.

“how is Regina doing?” Mary Margaret asked directly and Regina shifted a little uncomfortably in her seat.

She placed her hands over the keyboard and thought for a moment, “Regina is feeling better, she just needs some rest.”

The pencil appeared again and Regina took a sip of apple juice and glanced over to Henry to check that he was still occupied.

“are you going to bring her home?” 

Regina rolled her eyes, this obsession with her returning to Storybrooke was becoming tiresome when she was so obviously not wanted there. She angrily typed a reply but then deleted it and sighed as she tamed down her response to, “we are going to talk about it, I don’t think she feels welcome there.”

She quickly poured some more juice and took another bite of croissant as she waited for the reply. 

“tell her we want her to come home, she needs to be with family.”

Regina nearly chocked on her croissant and Henry looked up, “are you okay, Mom?”

She washed down the flaky pastry with a swig of juice and nodded, “yes, I’m fine,” she nodded and made eye contact with him to assure him that she was okay before looking back at the screen to where the pencil was moving again.

“you can convince her”

Regina frowned and immediately replied, “why do you think I can convince her?”

“because you miss her, don’t deny it again, I know you miss her.”

Regina sat back in the chair as she read the sentence again and again. The pencil reappeared and she waited for Mary Margaret to continue.

“you haven’t been the same since Regina has been gone, both your father and I have seen it and while, at first, we struggled with it we have thought long and hard about it and we understand and accept it. Emma, we love you so much and we want you to be happy!”

Her hands started to shake and she quickly put down the glass of juice as she stared at the screen looking for another meaning in the text she saw there.

“I know you’re scared, Emma.. believe me I know what it’s like to have your world turned upside down by someone but you need to grab this chance at happiness! For both of your sakes!”

A long moment passed as Regina stared at the screen and then over to Henry and then over to the bed that she had woken up in cocoon between her son and his mother. 

“Emma?” Mary Margaret typed.

“I will try to convince her to come home.” Regina typed.

“I have to go now, I will talk to you soon.” Regina quickly sent, afraid of what Mary Margaret might divulge next. As soon as the message was sent Regina quickly powered down the laptop.

“Henry, do you know where Emma was going?” Regina asked shakily.

Henry paused his game and looked at her as he shook his head, “no, she didn’t say anything to me. Are you okay? You’re looking really pale again.”

Regina nodded, “yes, I’ve.. I’ve just come over very tired again, I think I need to rest some more.”

Henry smiled, “okay..”

She walked over to him and placed a gentle kiss in his hair and cupped the side of his face and stared at him with a smile as if she wanted to say something but couldn’t quite say it. Eventually she stroked his cheek with her thumb, “I have missed you so very much, Henry, you do know that, don’t you?”

Henry nodded, “I’ve missed you too.”

Regina sat on the edge of the bed and brought Henry into a warm embrace and nuzzled her cheek into his ruffled hair.


	30. Chapter 30

Emma arrived back at the hotel and quickly made her way up the stairs, anxious to get back to the room and to Regina and Henry. She’d hated to leave but she had to go to the police station with Frank and make a statement about Skye as well as report Greg Mendell. Frank had contacted everyone he knew but Greg was proving difficult to find and it was worrying Emma. She knew he had no link to follow Emma to Regina but even so being away from Regina had made Emma uncomfortable and nervous and she’d practically run across the hotel lobby and up the stairs, avoiding the timely elevator.

She used her key and quietly entered the room and smiled at Henry who was predictably still playing his game. 

“Hey, Kid,” she said softly.

“Hey,” Henry whispered back and indicated Regina laying on the other bed, her back to them, “she’s sleeping.”

Emma smiled and nodded, “everything been okay?”

Henry nodded.

“Cool,” Emma eyed Regina to try to ascertain if she really was asleep as she sat on the edge of the bed, “Henry, would it be okay if I dropped you off with Frank for a couple of hours this afternoon? I need to see someone and I think your Mom might want to come with me..”

Henry looked up and grinned happily, “sure! Can I go now?”

Emma laughed, “yeah, get your stuff ready and I’ll get him to come over and get you.”

“Cool!” Henry said as he turned off his games console and hurried towards the door to get his shoes on. Emma quickly sent a text to Frank and walked over towards Regina and gently sat behind her and placed a hand on her arm.

Regina mumbled and sleepily turned over and frowned at Emma, “is everything all right?”

“Yes, I just wanted to let you know that Henry is going to be leaving soon, he is seeing Frank this afternoon,” Emma gave her a tight smile, hoping that Regina would be happy with the prearranged plans.

Regina nodded and slowly sat up on the bed as she watched Henry packing up his rucksack, “I see..”

Her tone led Emma to understand that Regina clearly didn’t see why Henry was being packed off suddenly so Emma explained, “I thought we could go to your place, get you a change of clothes and then we could go and see Kristina.”

A flash of recollection was visible in Regina’s eyes and she frowned, “Kristina? Why do I know that name?”

“I told Skye I’d seen Kristina..” Emma said gently.

“Oh,” Regina nodded, “was she..” she glanced at Henry who was watching them with interest, “did she know Skye?”

Emma nodded, “yes and I think it will do you good to meet her.”

Regina seemed hesitant but slowly nodded and made a face, “if you insist..”

Ten minutes later Frank turned up and hugged Emma and gave Regina a polite nod as he took an excitable Henry with him, talking about cracking an important case as they left. Regina freshened up in the bathroom following her morning nap and Emma idly flipped through some television channels as she waited for her. When she reappeared she looked nervous and Emma frowned, “is everything okay?”

Regina gave a small nod, “I’m willing to come back to Storybrooke.. just so you know. You don’t have to kidnap me,” she gave a tiny wry smile.

Emma beamed happily and then coughed, “good, good, finding a big bag to put you in was becoming a hassle.”

Regina chuckled, “are you calling me fat?”

“What?! No!” Emma said in a panic until she heard Regina laughing, “brat..” Emma grinned.

Regina nodded her agreement at the sentiment, “I will however need to pack a few things up.”

Emma nodded, “sure, do.. do you want to do that today?”

Regina quickly nodded, seemingly happy that Emma had suggested it, “yes, I don’t want to spend any more time than is absolutely necessary in that apartment.”

“Okay,” Emma stood up and grabbed her coat, “let’s do it, you just point and I’ll pack.”

“Do you think I’m going to trust my belongings to your packing skills?” Regina snorted a laugh.

“Hey, I’ve packed more often that you have, remember?” Emma winked.

“Ah, yes, I was forgetting your nomadic existence,” Regina agreed, “very well, it shouldn’t take too long as I didn’t get around to unpacking everything in the first place.”

“How come?” Emma asked.

“Too many memories,” Regina admitted with a small shrug.

Emma nodded, she knew nothing else needed to be said as she opened the room door and gestured towards the hallway for Regina to take the lead.


	31. Chapter 31

Regina stood outside the door to her apartment and looked at Emma, “well?”

“Well what?” Emma asked in confusion.

“Open it,” Regina said, indicating the door, “the last time I left I didn’t exactly have time to remember my keys, considering I was drugged.”

Emma folded her arms, “and what makes you think I can open it?”

Regina raised her eyebrow and looked at Emma pointedly, “any answer I give to that, though honest and truthful, will also be insulting. Do you really want me to answer that?”

Emma waved her hand to silence the older woman, “no, no, let’s drop it,” she said as she reached into her jacket pocket and produced her lock picking kit. She ignored Regina’s snort of laughter and bent down and started to unpick the lock, the second time round it was much quicker and after half a minute she heard the click and opened the door.

She looked up at Regina but the older woman made no move to enter the apartment so Emma stood up and walked in first. As she looked around the destruction she wished she had had the forethought to clean up a little before Regina returned. She turned to face Regina who was looking around with wide eyes before sighing, “didn’t take her long..”

“She’s handed herself in..” Emma muttered, knowing that it wouldn’t make much difference to how Regina felt about her belongings being thrown about.

Regina frowned, “why did she do that?”

Emma didn’t feel like telling Regina how she had beaten Skye and blackmailed her on pain of death so she simply shrugged, “don’t know.. where are your suitcases?”

With that the blonde marched off towards the master bedroom and Regina followed her, “in the wardrobe in the bedroom,” she said as they arrived in the bedroom. She pointed vaguely towards the correct wardrobe but Emma was already there, hauling the large cases from the top shelf. Regina looked around the room and swallowed hard at the sight before her and intimate images shared with the redhead who had trashed the room unwantedly entered her mind.

“Regina?” 

The brunette looked up and belatedly realised that it wasn’t the first time that Emma had called her name. She shook her head, “sorry, what?”

“I asked what you wanted to start with?” Emma frowned, she didn’t like the quiet side of Regina that had manifested itself since they arrived in the apartment, “I would have thought you’d be bossing me around by now,” she joked in a push to get Regina’s snark to re-emerge. 

“Whatever is left in there,” Regina pointed to a wardrobe, “and anything she hadn’t taken from there,” she indicated a chest of drawers before walking out of the bedroom.

Emma quickly packed the few clothes that she found and began to search through drawers and cupboards and found a few personal belongings and added those to the case. There were photo albums and trinkets including items a young Henry had made for her at school over the years.

She easily finished packing the bedroom and closed one suitcase and went to look for Regina, as she approached the kitchen she noticed the brunette with her back to her and her arms wrapped around her own body. Emma could tell from the way her head was held low and the way her shoulders shook that she was softly crying. 

Emma hesitated and wondered if she should approach or leave Regina to have her moment in private but she couldn’t bring herself to leave the brunette alone and made a noisy approach so as not to startle her. Regina’s body straightened slightly at the noise but before she had the chance to brush it off Emma rested her hand gently on her back, “it’s going to be okay.”

Any chance Regina had of pretending nothing had happened vanished when Emma peered around at her face and gave her a small smile of support when she saw the tears streaming down Regina’s face.

“I’m such a foolish.. old woman,” Regina said as she tried to control her tears and her breathing. 

“Hey,” Emma said as she turned Regina around by her shoulders so they were face to face, “you’re not old and you’re certainly not foolish..”

“I’m older than you think,” Regina said with a distracted wave of the hand, “don’t forget I’ve been preserved by a curse for twenty eight years.. And I am foolish, ridiculous, to have fallen for that woman!”

“She is very good at what she does, many people fall for these cons, you can’t beat yourself up over this,” Emma said seriously as she held Regina in place by her shoulders.

“People like me don’t get happiness, we don’t get happy endings and love and..” Regina started to list off angrily.

“Hey,” Emma cut her off, “that’s not true,” she looked stunned by the admission, “you don’t actually believe that crap do you?”

Regina shrugged her shoulders out of Emma’s grasp and wiped at her eyes, “yes, because it’s true.. I don’t expect a Charming to understand..”

“I am not a Charming,” Emma said fiercely, “I don’t fit nicely into some descriptive box like all you people seem to think. Life doesn’t work like that, people aren’t one thing or another. They are not black or white, we are all shades of grey. We all have evil streaks in us, even Snow White isn’t pure goodness!”

Regina took a step back at Emma’s harsh tone and Emma quickly apologised, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to shout..” she sighed as she looked around the kitchen, anywhere but at Regina, “I just get so angry that no one will give you a chance, not even you.”

Regina looked confused, “why would you care?”

“Because I’ve got to know you, this you, not the you from the old world. I’ve got to know Regina Mills, hard-ass Mayor, mother, brilliant chef, snarky bitch,” she smiled and Regina chuckled softly, “I like you, sorry, but I do. Whatever you may think, I think of us as friends. And I want you to be happy.”

Emma laughed, “hell, maybe I am a Charming.”

“Well,” Regina said as she picked up a tissue from a box on the counter and wiped at her eyes, “you did find me..”

Emma laughed as she dramatically said, “I’ll always find you!”

Regina smiled as she screwed up the tissue and threw it in Emma’s face.


	32. Chapter 32

It didn’t take long to pack Regina’s belongings up and many of them were still unpacked from when she had moved in. Emma transported suitcases and boxes from the apartment to Regina’s Mercedes in the underground car park of the building, every time she came back into the apartment Regina offered to assist her but Emma refused and told her to rest. 

On the sixth journey Emma returned and looked at Regina with anticipation but Regina simply shrugged, “that’s it.”

“Oh,” Emma said, “I thought there’d be more..”

“When I get back to Storybrooke I can get whatever else I need,” Regina said quietly, “Henry said it would be okay if I used magic so I don’t think he’d mind.”

Emma’s eyebrows shot up, “he did?”

“Yes, we spoke about it earlier,” Regina said with a shrug that indicated that she didn’t want to dwell on the subject too long.

“That’s good,” Emma smiled, “shall we get some lunch and then head over to see Kristina?”

Regina didn’t answer as she seemed distracted while she looked around the apartment with a small smile.

“Regina?” Emma asked softly.

“For a while,” Regina said with a gesture around the room, “this was really nice. Fake,” she said with a roll of the eyes, “but still nice.”

“City living suited you?” Emma said in a question.

“I suppose,” Regina said with a small nod, “maybe it was just no longer having to be her, no one knowing my history. For the first time in.. well.. so long it might as well be forever, people spoke to me normally. No preconceptions, no fear, no hostility.”

“Anonymity can be a great thing,” Emma agreed as she put her hands into her back pockets and looked at the floor with uncertainty.

“It can,” Regina agreed.

“But so can home,” Emma said softly without looking up and Regina turned to regard the younger woman and realised that Emma was concerned that Regina was changing her mind.

An acidic remark burned on Regina’s tongue for a moment before she swallowed it down as she looked at the dejected figure before her.

“Home beats anonymity,” Regina said as she turned and started to check a cupboard she had forgotten about, “it must do otherwise you wouldn’t have stuck around in Storybrooke.”

“I just like the architecture,” Emma grinned.

“Thank you, I did my best,” Regina said as she crossed the living room towards the hallway.

“Did you really create all of Storybrooke?” Emma asked with a shake of the head, “I mean, I know you did.. but did you plan every detail? Did you choose everyone’s names, homes, did you design everything? Are you the reason that Mary Margaret’s door is too small and there’s a draft?”

Regina smiled, “you know that a good magician never reveals their secrets, Miss Swan.”

Emma let the name slide that time and nodded, “I’ll get you to tell me one day,” she grinned as she held the front door open for Regina.

“I’m sure you will, you’re persistent,” Regina said but she didn’t sound disappointed as she stepped across the threshold.

For lunch Regina showed Emma one of her favourite local bakeries and teased the blonde for having the plainest sandwich on the menu. Regina told Emma about how she had learnt so much about food while she had been in Boston, she explained how the selection of restaurants and the food from cultures she hadn’t experienced before encouraged her to learn more and then even teach others.

“Cooking is like a spell,” Regina said, quietly so as to not be overheard by other people in the busy bakery, “you have a set number of ingredients, you put them together in a certain way and you get a certain result. As soon as I arrived in Storybrooke I knew that cooking would be something I’d enjoy but it is only since I left that I realised I had explored so little of it.”

“Maybe you should open a store?” Emma said as she ate her cheese and ham sandwich.

Regina laughed, “I can’t see the locals queuing up to try my apple strudel, can you?”

Emma laughed, “good point, maybe not then. But how about classes?”

Regina shook her head and busied herself stirring her coffee, “no,” she said simply.

“Why not?” Emma grinned at the suddenly shy Regina.

“No one would come,” Regina said with a shrug as if the fact didn’t bother her.

“I’d come,” Emma said as she took another bite of her sandwich.

“Then you’d be the only one,” Regina chuckled.

“Then you might as well come to my place, you know, so I don’t have to travel,” Emma winked.

“Is this the real reason why you want me to come with you back to Storybrooke? Because your mother kicked you out and you’re finding out you can’t boil an egg?” Regina quipped.

“You’ve got me,” Emma held up her hands jokingly, “I’m wasting away, you’ve got to come back and teach me how to cook. Or cook for me, Henry keeps telling me how great your cooking is.”

“He’s not wrong,” Regina smiled as she held her hand up to her head.

“Headache?” Emma enquired.

“Mmm,” Regina acknowledged, “ever since, well, you know..”

Emma balked, “why didn’t you say? We could have gotten you some medication.”

“I took some at the apartment,” Regina said, and Emma noted that she didn’t refer to it as home anymore, “but it’s yet to kick in.”

“Is there anything I can do?” Emma asked.

Regina shook her head as she took a sip of coffee, “it will go, in time.”

“Are you sure?” Emma queried, she hadn’t want to bring it up but Regina had suffered horrendously and Emma was concerned about Regina’s health.

“Quite sure,” Regina said with conviction.

Emma stared at Regina for a few moments and the brunette held her gaze until Emma finally nodded, “okay, but tell me if anything changes, please? I’m worried about you.”

Again Regina held back on the sharp retort that her brain generated automatically and instead nodded, “I will let you know,” she promised.


	33. Chapter 33

After lunch Regina and Emma made their way to Kristina’s apartment, Regina seemed very anxious about the whole thing and had half-attempted to back out of the whole thing a couple of times. Emma had smoothed it over by saying that it would only be a quick visit and Regina didn’t even have to say anything if she didn’t want to.

As they stood outside the door to Kristina’s apartment Emma looked at Regina, “ready?”

Regina rolled her eyes and waved her hand, “get on with it.”

Emma smiled at the old, rude Regina and knocked on the door. After a few moments Kristina opened the door with a warm smile, “Emma, it’s lovely to see you again,” she held out her hand and Emma shook it.

“Good to see you again too,” Emma smiled before gesturing to the woman beside her, “this is Regina.”

Kristina smiled at Regina and shook her hand, “wonderful to meet you, come in, both of you, please..”

Kristina stood to one side and Emma and Regina walked in, “please, go on through to the kitchen,” Kristina said as she closed the door behind them.

“Tea?” Kristina asked as she followed them into the kitchen and both woman nodded. 

"Please, sit down," Kristina nodded to the small dining table in the kitchen and both women sat down. Kristina began to assemble cups and saucers on a tray and looked up at Emma, “I’m so relieved that Tammy is off the streets and where she belongs in jail.”

“Tammy?” Regina questioned.

“Skye,” Emma remarked, “Kristina knew her as Tammy.”

“She has a string of alias,” Kristina said, “what did Frank say her real name was?”

“Maureen Martin,” Emma replied.

“That’s it,” Kristina said as she picked up the large wooden tea box and placed it on the table, “I hear you taught her a thing or two?”

Regina looked at Emma with a raised eyebrow and Emma blushed a little as Kristina walked back to the worktop and started to fill the kettle, “punched her in the nose and then later tracked her down and beat her head into her own steering wheel..” Kristina laughed as she put the kettle on to boil, “I have to say that cheered me up when I heard that.

Regina was staring incredulously at Emma now, “you hit her again?”

Emma looked at Regina and mumbled, “a bit..”

“Deserved everything she got,” Kristina said as she put the tray with cups and saucers on the table. In the distance a telephone rang and she looked up, “oh, excuse me a moment,” she said as she left the room.

Regina stared at Emma and the blonde tried to look interested in the tea flavours in front of her.

“Miss Swan,” Regina intoned slowly.

Emma winced as she looked up, “yeah?”

“She handed herself in, did she?” Regina coaxed.

“Yep,” Emma said as she picked out a teabag.

“And why did she do that, exactly?” Regina puzzled.

“I.. kinda threatened to kill her,” Emma mumbled.

“What?!” Regina cried out before turning to check Kristina hadn’t heard and then looking back at the sheepish blonde, “what did you just say?”

“I said I’d kill her if you were hurt,” Emma conceded, “I told her she should hand herself in because if you were hurt I’d track her down and kill her.. and that a jail cell would be the safest place for her.”

Regina stared at Emma for a few seconds before stuttering, “w-why, why would say that?”

“Because it was the truth,” Emma looked up at her honestly, “you’d vanished from the apartment and I was scared. I had nothing to go on and she was the only connection I had, then she turned out to be useless as well.”

“You could lose your badge for doing something like that,” Regina admonished her.

Emma shrugged.

“You’re an idiot,” Regina told her as she looked at the tea selection in front of her.

Emma smiled, somehow it was nice to hear Regina calling her an idiot again.

“I’m sorry about that,” Kristina said as she returned at the same moment the kettle clicked off from its boil. She poured hot water into a large teapot and brought it over to the table.

“I imagine you’re still processing everything,” Kristina said to Regina with a kind smile, “I know it took me weeks, months even, to feel I had a proper handle on everything that had happened. I was kicking myself for a long time.”

Kristina sat down and poured some hot water into Regina’s cup as Regina said, “thank you, yes, it is rather a lot to comprehend at the moment.”

“Did Emma tell you that I have spoken to other people who she’s conned?” Kristina asked.

“No,” Regina shook her head and looked at Kristina curiously, “how many have there been?”

“Well I’m not entirely sure,” Kristina said as she poured water into Emma’s and then her own cup, “but I spoke to two others and then there was a woman who I found out about but she refused to speak to me. Too embarrassed I think.”

“I can understand that,” Regina nodded as she dunked her teabag into the hot water and watched as the water changed colour.

“I wouldn’t talk to anyone at first, my sister knew something was up from the moment she met Tammy, sorry, Skye.. but I wouldn’t listen to her. When I realised what had happened I just couldn’t admit it. It took weeks, I was expecting my sister to tell me that she’d told me so,” she laughed lightly.

“Did she?” Regina enquired.

“No, she was enormously understanding, without her support I think I’d still be a mess over it all. I’m not very practical, you see, I’m very emotional.. you really need a support in your life after something like this. It does really knock your confidence, and your trust,” Kristina said before looking at Emma, “luckily you have a real friend here.”

Emma blushed and Regina smiled over her teacup, “yes, I do.. So, tell me, how did you manage to find her out?”

For the next half an hour, over several cups of tea, Kristina laid the scene for Regina, explaining how she had met Tammy and described their perfect life together. Regina nodded and agreed and even laughed on occasion as she saw the similarities. They both laughed and commiserated as they realised they had fallen for the same old ploys. To Emma’s surprise, Regina quickly opened up to Kristina and effortlessly shared details of her life with Skye. After a while Regina asked to use the bathroom and Kristina directed her down the hallway.

“Can I get you more tea?” Kristina asked Emma once Regina had left.

“No, I’m fine, thank you,” Emma nodded as Kristina cleared her cup away.

“Can I ask you something?” Kristina asked with a barely noticeable flash of colour brightening her cheeks.

“Sure?” Emma smiled.

“Do you think Regina would be ready to date again anytime soon?” Kristina queried. 

Emma blinked for a second as she caught up with the conversation, “oh, erm, I don’t know..” she said quickly while trying to sound casual, “she’s leaving town soon, though.”

“Oh,” Kristina sighed, “that is a shame, she’s really something else.”

“Yeah,” Emma nodded with a laugh, “that she is..”

“And she’s hot,” Kristina laughed as she placed a few items in the dishwasher.

Emma was glad that Kristina wasn’t looking at her as her cheeks flushed brightly at the thought that Kristina was checking out the brunette. But then Emma didn’t want Kristina to think that Emma felt there was anything wrong with that so she nodded and replied, “yeah, she is..” 

“Oh, I’m not stepping on your toes am I?” Kristina said, still smiling pleasantly, “there did seem to be something between you.”

Emma coughed, “Regina and me? No, she.. she’s not a big fan of me..”

Kristina frowned, “she seems to be, the way she looks at you and that smile when she talks about you.. I think she likes you more than you know..”

Regina returned to the kitchen, “I’ve just seen the time, we really ought to get going.”

Emma looked at her watch, “yeah, you’re right,” she quickly stood up, thankful that the conversation with Kristina was now over.

“It was lovely to meet you and.. thank you,” Regina smiled, “for helping me feel like I’m not alone.”

Kristina walked over to Regina and encircled her in a big hug, “it was lovely to meet you too!”

Kristina let go of Regina and hugged Emma as well, “thank you, for everything, I’m so relieved that she is off the streets. I feel I can go out again without being afraid of bumping into her.”

Emma smiled, “I’m glad.”

Kristina showed them both out and once they were walking down the stairs Regina turned to Emma, “I’m very glad I met Kristina, that helped to put my mind at rest.”

Emma smiled, “good, I’m really glad that it did!”

“She’s a very nice person,” Regina said with a nod.

“She thinks you’re hot,” Emma commented.

“I am, dear, I am..” Regina said with an evil smile.

Emma laughed heartily, “wow, so modest! Let’s get over to your place and get your car and we can park it at the hotel for tomorrow morning.”


	34. Chapter 34

They entered the underground car park below Regina’s old building and approached the black Mercedes.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay to do the long drive tomorrow?” Emma asked Regina seriously, “its four hours and I know you’re still not feeling great.”

“I’m sure after another night’s rest I’ll be quite able,” Regina insisted, this was the third time Emma has subtly hinted her concerns.

“Okay,” Emma said, “do you want me to drive it to over to the hotel?”

Regina laughed, “no one drives my car.”

Emma smiled, “I thought you were warming to me?”

“Not that much,” Regina laughed as she unlocked the car and climbed into the driver’s seat. Emma got into the front passenger seat and closed the door behind her.

“I’ve just remembered something I’ve left upstairs,” Regina sighed, “I’ll just pop up and get it, wait here..”

“I’ll go,” Emma offered but Regina had already stepped out of the car and bent over to look at Emma as she rested one arm on the roof of the car and the other arm over the open driver’s door.

“It’s fine, I’ll just be a couple of minutes,” Regina smiled and closed the door behind her as she walked off towards the entrance to the stairwell.

Emma swallowed hard and stared at Regina’s swaying body as she strolled away. When Regina had leant into the car Emma had found herself staring straight down Regina’s blouse and at her breasts. Emma sat in the car wide-eyed as she began to process the fact that she had been staring at Regina’s breasts, objectifying her body. 

“But I’m straight,” Emma said to herself in confusion, “aren’t I?”

She looked around the empty car as if hoping to find answers somewhere in the interior but all that happened was that she became more wound up by the feelings that were rushing through her brain, and her body.

She bent forward and held her head in her hands between her knees and started to breathe deeply for a few moments before she suddenly started chanting, “oh my God, oh my God, oh my God..”

Quickly she sat up and leaned back in the chair and stared at the dashboard in shock as she whispered to herself, “I’m hot for Regina.. how the fuck did this happen?”

“When the fuck did this happen?” she asked herself.

Suddenly the conversations she had had with Mary Margaret came back into her mind and she thought about her actions over the last six weeks. Sleeping on Regina’s porch the night she left, working night and day to catch her attackers, planting a new apple tree in the city grounds, sneaking looks over Henry’s shoulder at the chats he was having with his Mom. It was all starting to come together, she’d been missing Regina. It was like a part of her was missing. 

She thought about Skye, had she really instantly known that the woman was a con artist or had she just disliked her. Had she been jealous of her relationship with Regina? Would she had reacted that way if Skye had conned someone else, say Belle? Or Granny?

She knew the answer and immediately bent forward and put her head in between her knees again and chanted again, “oh my God, oh my God, oh my God..”

Mary Margaret knew, she sat up. Mary Margaret was one of the least observant people she knew. Who else knew? Did Regina know? She started to hyperventilate.

“Okay, Swan, calm down,” she told herself, “play it cool.. casual..”

She shifted in her seat and crossed her legs and then lifted her ankle to rest on her knee, she slouched in the seat and tried a casual expression. She caught a glimpse of herself in the wing mirror and immediately sat up as she realised she looked completely ridiculous.

Emma shook her head in shock at herself, she’d never stared at a woman’s breasts before. Ever. And if she were honest with herself she’d watched Regina’s ass as she walked away from the car too. 

“Why didn’t anybody tell me?!” she demanded the empty car to give her answers.

Emma grabbed her phone and quickly opened a search window and typed in ‘am I a lesbian?’ a number of quizzes appeared and she quickly shut down the search again as she stared into the distance in shock. She realised that if she was asking the question then she probably was. Or was bi. Either way she was attracted to Regina.

Regina. Where had she gotten to? Emma looked at her watch and realised that she’d been freaking out for over fifteen minutes. She frowned as she realised Regina should have been back by now and quickly reached over and pulled the keys from the ignition. She exited the car and locked the door and jogged towards the stairwell.

As she took the steps two at a time she calculated how long it should have taken Regina to get back to the parking garage. Two minutes to get to the apartment, three minutes to find the thing she’d forgotten, two minutes back. Maybe she went to the bathroom, another two minutes, maybe she couldn’t find the thing she wanted, another two minutes that was eleven minutes and they were already up to sixteen.

Emma opened the door to Regina’s floor and quickly made her way to the open front door and walked straight into the apartment. It was the sound that she heard first, that awful gasping, clutching, gurgling sound when someone was being choked. She quickly rounded the corner and saw Regina on the floor with Greg Mendell straddling her body, his hands around her throat, Regina was gasping for air and her legs were twitching uselessly with the little energy she had left with which to fight him.

It took a second for Emma to snap, she silently grabbed him by his collar and pulled him back hard and fast, causing him to gag as the material pulled against his throat. He let go of Regina and his hands went to his neck to pull the material away. With the momentum Emma threw him backwards onto the floor and quickly straddled him and with a smile at the look of shock and terror on his face connected her fist with his face as hard as she could.

He immediately blacked out and Emma stood up on shaky legs, she feared that if she didn’t put some space between them she would end up beating him. The sound of Regina’s moans pulled her out of her fog and she spun around and knelt down to help her.

“God, Regina, are you okay?” Emma asked as she looked at the angry purple marks around her throat.

Regina rose up onto her knees and nodded as she looked at Greg with terror as if afraid he would somehow move again any moment now.

“It’s okay, he’s out,” Emma said as she faced Regina.

“Why did you come up here?” Regina gasped as she finally looked at Emma with relief.

“I..” Emma paused as she considered what she was going to say. She was worried about Regina, Regina had been gone too long, she was coming up to help her, “I.. realised that you’re right, you’re hot.”

Regina gaped in shock and before she had a chance to reply Emma took Regina’s face firmly in both hands and pressed her lips to the brunette’s. A moment later she pulled back to see Regina’s expression, holding her breath the whole time.

Regina smiled, “you’re not bad yourself, Sheriff..”

Emma released the breath that was threatening to asphyxiate her and smiled, that big goofy, ridiculous grin that Regina had grown to love.


	35. Chapter 35

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all your lovely comments so far - I'm glad people are enjoying this tale.
> 
> Updates will be few and far between over the festive period, I hope everyone has a great break!

Emma let her eyes flutter closed and leaned in for another kiss but her puckered lips met Regina’s finger and she opened her eyes in surprise at the hindrance.

“Shall we not deal with more.. pressing matters?” Regina said with a nod of the head towards the unconscious man on the floor.

Emma swallowed down the feeling of rejection and shook her head as she readjusted her thought process, “er.. yeah, right, of course.. sorry,” she said as she stood up and looked over at Greg. She quickly pulled her phone out of her pocket and scrolled through her contacts for the name of the officer she had reported the case to earlier.

She made the call and explained what had happened and then turned to Regina and quietly muttered, “they are on their way..”

Regina had stood up and walked shakily over to the furthest dining room chair and sat down, she looked at Emma and slowly nodded. Emma regarded the bruising on her throat and ran a hand through her hair, “is.. is there anything I can do?”

With a shake of the head she looked away, “no.. thank you,” she pulled her navy blue cardigan tighter around her body.

“I’m not doing a very good job at protecting you,” Emma mumbled as she turned away and stared down at Greg’s still body.

Regina’s head snapped up and she looked at the back of Emma’s head, “where on earth do you get that ridiculous notion?”

Emma looked at her with disbelief as she pointed at Greg, “I present exhibit a.”

“You’ve protected me three times in two days, by my count,” Regina scoffed and folded her arms.

“He electrocuted you! Nearly killed you!” Emma yelled, “if I’d done my damn job in Storybrooke you wouldn’t be here, you wouldn’t have left!”

“What happened in Storybrooke was not your fault, it was mine,” Regina said simply.

“A physical attack against the Mayor..” Emma started.

“Ex-Mayor,” Regina corrected.

“Ex-Mayor,” Emma rolled her eyes, “falls right into the jurisdiction of the Sheriff’s Office. I should have done more, Jesus, Regina when I saw you packing your car I thought you were up to something. But when I saw your face.. I..” Emma’s voice faded as she again started to picture the bruised face.

“I was being punished for my crimes,” Regina shrugged, “I deserved nothing less.”

“Do you honestly believe that you deserve to be assaulted?” Emma gasped.

“What I deserve, is death,” Regina said clearly, “you seem to forget my crimes.”

“No one deserves to be beaten on their doorstep,” Emma replied fiercely. 

“I have murdered people, Emma,” Regina said darkly. She indicated Greg, “I murdered his father, not because he was a threat to me but because he wouldn’t give up his only son to me. I was lonely, pathetic, I wanted the unconditional love of a child. When Owen ran away.. I killed his father without a second thought.”

“That was a long time ago,” Emma countered.

“Stupid girl, time doesn’t change what I did,” Regina snorted a laugh.

“I think it does,” Emma retorted, ignoring the sting of Regina’s words and tone.

“I killed Graham because I didn’t want you to have him, he was mine,” Regina whispered menacingly.

Emma swallowed, she didn’t want to go down this road, “you did that because you were desperate, the curse was falling apart. And, to be honest, Graham was losing his mind..”

“Why did you kiss me?!” Regina demanded.

“What?” Emma was having trouble keeping up with Regina’s rapid mood swings and topic changes.

“Why did you kiss me?” Regina repeated.

Emma opened her mouth and then closed it as she stared at Regina with sudden understanding, she pointed her finger in accusation at the brunette, “you’re trying to push me away!”

“What?!” Regina cried as she stood up defensively.

“You are!” Emma’s eyes flashed with realisation, “I kissed you and now you are trying to push me away.”

“Don’t be so ridiculous!” Regina said, “I’m not discussing this with you now!”

“We are discussing this right now,” Emma said quickly as she put her hands on her hips as if to deflect anymore nonsense from Regina.

“Tomorrow,” Regina nodded, “we will talk about this tomorrow..”

“Can we just cut the crap and move on to the final stage?” Emma said.

Regina frowned, “what are you talking about?”

“You’ve been through isolation, denial, anger and now we bargaining.. just get to the acceptance stage,” Emma stared at Regina.

“Accept what?” Regina whispered.

“Accept that I clearly have feelings for you,” Emma said with determination, “because you’re pushing me away, trying to make me hate you.. and it’s not gonna work.”

“I would like to point out that I have just been throttled,” Regina said weakly.

“Which is nothing compared to your last meeting with Greg,” Emma raised an eyebrow, “the only thing that changed here is that I kissed you and now.. you’re scared.”

Any denial Regina was going to speak was silenced by two police officers entering the apartment. Emma turned to them and in a flash composed herself into the professional law enforcement officer she was. She quickly explained the situation and statements and photographs were taken, Regina spoke when spoken to and answered a few questions but she refused to make eye contact with Emma. It took a long three quarters of an hour before the police left the apartment, requesting that Emma come to the station later on to help them complete their paperwork.

Emma closed the front door behind them and sighed as she rested her forehead on the wood and counted to ten in her head before standing up and walking back into the apartment.

Regina was stood in the living room, looking out of the window at the view, “I’m not scared,” the brunette announced.

Emma approached her but remained silent as she hoped Regina would continue.

After a full minute’s silence Regina spoke again, “I’m just trying to do the right thing.. and protect you, for a change..”

“Protect me from what?” Emma wondered aloud.

“From me!” Regina turned around and stared at the blonde.

“Why do I need protecting from you?” Emma asked, “no, wait, don’t answer that..”

Regina folded her arms and smirked in an ‘I told you so’ way.

“Not because I agree with you but because I don’t want to argue with you,” Emma grinned back, “I know I didn’t handle that very well and, yeah, it was the emotion of the situation and that was the wrong time to kiss you and the wrong time to tell you how I feel.. or.. start to tell you anyway because I’m really still figuring that out for myself.”

Regina opened her mouth to speak but Emma held her hand up, “but that doesn’t change the fact that I did it and I said it and I don’t want to take it back. I get that you’ve been through a lot but I don’t want to discuss all the personality flaws you think you have, because then I’ll have to discuss mine and then we’ll wish Greg killed us both.”

Regina smiled despite herself.

“So, let’s not talk about it yet, let’s just go and get Henry, spend some time together. You need to recover and then we’re going back to Storybrooke. And, whenever you’re ready, we’ll talk about it. Okay?”

Regina smiled, “do I have any choice?”

“None,” Emma grinned happily.


	36. Chapter 36

“What are you looking for?” Emma asked as she leaned on the roof of the Mercedes while Regina rummaged through items in the trunk.

“This,” Regina said as she pulled a dark red roll-neck sweater from a suitcase with a flourish.

The brunette quickly unbuttoned her shirt and Emma looked around in shock as she stepped forward and grabbed both sides of the shirt and pulled them back together, “what are you doing?!”

“Getting changed,” Regina said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, “I don’t want Henry to see my neck.”

“But you don’t mind the whole parking garage seeing you topless?” Emma asked as she kept a grip on Regina’s shirt and looked around the car park.

“No one is here and if you would let me get on with it..” Regina said as she stepped back and pulled her shirt away from Emma’s hands. She quickly removed the shirt and balled it up and put it in the trunk. Emma was torn between staring at Regina’s olive skin and black bra and averting her eyes but everything happened so quickly she just ended up staring at Regina.

In a swift movement Regina pulled on the sweater and pulled it down to her waist as she adjusted the wing mirror to check her hair. When she was satisfied she looked up at Emma, “shall we get going?”

Regina climbed into the driver’s seat before Emma had a chance to give her an answer so Emma quickly followed and got in the car herself. Without another word Regina started the car and drove out of the car park and onto the road. They travelled the short distance to Emma’s hotel in complete silence and Regina entered the underground car park and parked up beside the yellow bug with a roll of the eyes.

“Hey,” Emma muttered as she caught the movement and looked at Regina to reprimand the woman for the sleight on her beloved car. As she looked at the brunette she realised how tired the older woman looked and began mentally berating herself for not considering earlier that Regina would probably need to rest again after everything that had happened.

“Shall we go up to the room?” Emma suggested gently and to her surprise Regina softly nodded.

Emma got out of the car and closed the door behind her, she was surprised when Regina didn’t follow her so she walked around to the driver’s side and opened the door. Regina seemed in a bit of a daze as she started to remove her seatbelt, she turned to get out of the car but seemed to pause and Emma held out her hand.

After a couple of moments staring at the offered hand Regina took it and hauled herself out of the car.

“I think you need to rest,” Emma pointed out.

“We need to get Henry,” Regina said, “maybe just a short sit down in the room?”

Emma knew better than to argue with the woman there and then so simply nodded and picked Regina’s handbag up from the car and closed the door. She plucked the keys from Regina’s hand and locked the door and looped her arm through Regina’s and guided her to the stairwell.

As she guided the brunette into the hotel and up the stairs she mentally berated herself for not having scheduled a suitable break for Regina during the day. Regina had been to hell and back and needed more rest if she was going to be able to drive back to Storybrooke the next day. The mental image of Regina strapped to the gurney flashed through her brain and she shuddered slightly.

“Are you okay?” Regina asked as she caught the movement and frowned.

Emma laughed, “I should be asking you that..”

“I shouldn’t have a monopoly on pity,” Regina said as they approached the door to the room.

Emma unlocked the door, “pity? Who said anything about pity?”

Regina smirked, “I know that look..”

Emma opened the door and gestured for Regina to enter, “clearly you don’t, I don’t pity you.”

Regina didn’t respond as she walked into the room and flopped into a chair by the desk with exhaustion.

“Can I get you a drink?” Emma asked as she closed the door behind her.

Regina looked at her, clearly a question in her mind and Emma looked at her would a raised eyebrow, “go on,” the blonde said.

“What?” Regina asked blankly.

“Whatever you’re struggling to say, out with it..” Emma said as she got some apple juice out of the fridge and poured some into a clean glass for Regina.

Regina took the glass gratefully and looked at Emma with a puzzled expression, “I’m just trying to figure out what it is you want from me..”

Emma shrugged her shoulders, “nothing..”

Regina smirked, “everyone wants something.”

Emma sighed sadly and turned away and walked into the bathroom. She closed the door behind her and leaned heavily on the door and closed her eyes. Sometimes she thought Regina was just trying to be awkward, sometimes she even thought that the woman was playing the martyr. But when Emma really considered the life Regina had lived she realised that it was to be expected that the woman would pull away from people, thinking that they all had an ulterior motive.

From what she understood, Regina’s mother had been hell-bent on getting her daughter to live the life that she had wanted for herself. The life of a queen. She had manipulated Regina and everyone around her in order to place Regina in exactly the right place at the right time. God knows where Regina’s father had been during all of this, clearly he hadn’t been able to protect her from her mother.

Then she was designated to be Queen and mother to a girl barely younger than herself, having been ripped away from her first love. Rumplestiltskin had taken the role of primary manipulator from thereon, shaping Regina into a vengeful, raging woman destined to be called Evil, Emma sighed as she realised that Skye had played right into Regina’s biggest neurosis, that she was being manipulated. That she was unworthy of a happy life and a happy ending.

Emma usually ran from these kind of people, fast and far. But she constantly felt herself drawn to Regina. At first she convinced herself that she needed Regina onside for Henry’s benefit but soon she realised that was nonsense. Even before the curse was broken she would go out of her way to bump into the woman, even if it descended into an argument it was worth it just to see Regina.

Her thoughts were still a mess, having only recently understood what she was feeling for Regina was more than a passing interest, more than just a desire to spend time with her. Regina had said that everyone wants something and to an extent she was right, Emma did want something.

She opened the door forcefully and Regina looked up in surprise at her.

“I do want something,” Emma nodded, “I want you to be happy. I think I can do that.”

Regina looked stunned and Emma continued as she leaned on the bathroom doorframe, “I’m really confused, I only just figured out my own feelings.. and I’m still figuring them out properly. But I don’t want anything from you except for you to be happy. There’s no grand plan, no scheming, just me..” Emma shrugged her shoulders, “if you want me, that is..”

“You really are a Charming,” Regina said without malice.

“Yeah, I guess I am,” Emma laughed, “but.. as much as you hate them.. don’t you want to have what they do?”

Regina looked down at her empty glass of apple juice with a knitted brow but no answer was forthcoming.

Emma laughed lightly, “God, I pick the worst moments don't I? You’ve had your heart broken, been kidnapped, electrocuted, throttled half to death.. and then I come along and throw all this on top..” she rubbed her eye, “I’m.. I’m sorry, Regina..”

“Don’t be,” Regina whispered, still looking into her glass as if searching for answers, “I.. I’m tired,” she admitted, “I need to rest and.. think.”

Emma nodded, “I understand,” she replied even though she didn’t really understand.

“I’m not at my best at the moment and I don’t want to.. speak and ruin everything, it’s a quality I am trying to rid myself of,” Regina said simply.

Emma nodded again, she still didn’t understand, didn’t know which direction Regina was leaning towards. But she was grateful that Regina wanted to rest and explain everything properly rather than shoot her down in flames immediately.

Regina kicked off her shoes and stood up and pointed to the bed, “I’m going to..” she drifted off.

“Of course, whatever you need to do, can I get you anything? Help with anything?” Emma offered.

“No, I.. just need to rest. It seems to be catching up with me..” Regina said as she walked over to the bed and laid on the sheets with little care for her clothing. She leant down for the comforter and Emma rushed over and pulled the comforter over the brunette with a smile. She tucked Regina into bed, “sweet dreams..” she whispered.

Regina was already drifting to sleep and muttered, “you’re an idiot..” with a soft smile.


	37. Chapter 37

It must have only taken seconds for Regina to fall into a dream-filled sleep, the exhaustion and the events of the last few days caused all kinds of images to be conjured in her mind. When Henry was young and he’d experience a busy day he would sleep longer than usual that evening, Archie Hopper had later explained that the child’s mind would spend time processing and understanding everything that had happened to them that day. Converting the sights and sounds into thoughts and feelings. 

Regina saw Mifflin Street in her mind, but it was as if she were watching events from a third party point of view, she watched herself attending to housework and general household tasks. This was something Regina had done soon after Henry had been taken from her, she had attempted to carry on as usual. Cleaning the house, cooking meals, going shopping, everything was as normal as it could possibly be in an attempt to drown out the crushing feeling of loneliness.

The scene in front of her sped up and she watched as days and weeks went by, eventually she could see the loneliness claiming her and the changes in her routine. Suddenly the perspective changed and she was seeing her old house in the first person but she was no longer in control of her body. She was a viewer of events, nothing more. She heard the doorbell ring and made her way to the front door to answer it, she fought herself, she knew what was going to happen and desperately tried to warn herself. Nothing she did had any effect, the dream continued and she was forced to relive the event but this time with total knowledge of what was going to happen. She saw Marco. She didn’t see what hit her in the face.

The darkness that fell changed quickly to her packing up her car, the drive to Boston, locating her new apartment on a map and the first time she saw the beautiful view from her living room. She saw Skye, her smile so warm and welcoming. The first hug, the tentative first kiss. Sharing coffee in cafes and, before long, meals in restaurants. Skye had immediately detected Regina’s love of cooking and had set about introducing her to some of the best restaurants in Boston. They tried all kinds of cuisines and Skye spoke to her like a real person, there was no fear in her eyes, no veiled jibes at her history. They kissed some more. Regina recalled their first heated make-out session on the sofa, how Skye had reached her hand inside Regina’s bra and made her feel sensations she had never felt before.

Highly sexual images flashed before her eyes, both first and third person viewpoints of her and Skye in a variety of positions as well as locations. Skye had awoken the sexual side of Regina’s personality and exploited it to its fullest. Nowhere seemed to be out of bounds, the shower, the dining room table, the sofa, the car.. even the bathroom in the Thai restaurant. She recalled how Skye had grabbed her hand and dragged her into one of the stalls, locked the door and gently pressed her up against the tiled wall before quickly dropping to her knees.

Without warning she was experiencing a different sensation as a steady and strong electrical pulse raged through her body. When the current was finally switched off she turned her head to see Skye at the machine instead of Greg. Her face a determined sneer as she cranked up the power and her hand hesitated over the button once last time, ‘who could ever love you?’ she whispered with a shake of the head before slamming the button down with the palm of her hand.

The gurney turned into a comfortable bed, the leather straps at her side were replaced by silk scarves tying her wrists above her head to the headboard. The feeling between her spread legs was one she had grown to love and she tilted her head up to see red hair bobbing between her legs. She gasped and closed her eyes and when she opened them again the red hair had been replaced by golden blonde curls.

She jolted at the shock and the head lifted to reveal Emma’s concerned face, ‘are you okay?’ the dream Sheriff asked her. Dream Regina was too shocked to reply. ‘I just want you to be happy’, Emma told her with a smile before tilting her head back down and sliding her tongue gently over Regina’s clit.

Suddenly she was back at Mifflin Street, in her favourite apron and cooking a recipe she had gentle extracted from an Italian chef she met a couple of weeks before. As she looked up she noticed the table was set for three and a red leather jacket was draped over one of the chairs. She stared at it for the longest time and was shocked when arms delicately wrapped themselves around her waist from behind. She couldn’t see who was holding her so gently but she felt a female body pressing gently into her back and could smell perfume filling her nose. 

Then she was on her back, in her bed in Mifflin Street, the weight of a soft skinned body on top of her. She had her eyes closed and her mouth occupied with kissing, her arms tightly holding the body to her own.

Then her dream seemed to rewind and she was reliving that terrible moment. The doorbell had rung and she was making her way towards the front door. Unable to stop the dream figure of herself making its way closer and closer to door. The door swung open but then there was no Marco, instead there was Emma. With that ridiculous, goofy grin and her red leather jacket, her hands in her pockets, ‘I just want you to be happy,’ she said, ‘and I think I can do that.’

A new scene and she could see her reflection in a mirror, she could see the bruising and the split lip. Her shaky hand applied foundation to the painful purpling skin in an attempt to cover some of the discolouration. 

Then she was in her office in the town hall, sat at her desk and signing papers with her fountain pen. As her right hand drifted gracefully across the paper with the pen her left hand removed the signed paper to reveal the next document. After the third document she caught sight of her left hand and stopped and stared at the white gold ring on her wedding finger. The pen fell from her hand in shock as she stared at the ring.

The men were entering her apartment in Boston, they had a hood for her head and she saw Skye turn away from her. She knew what was coming. She was waking up on a hard, cold, metal table. She couldn’t move. ‘She doesn’t want to be with you,’ Greg’s voice taunted her., ‘no one does.’

Emma held her hand up, when did she get here? White light flew from the palms of her hands and Greg disappeared from sight. She turned to Regina and quickly unfastened the restraints and pulled Regina into her arms. ‘I’m not going anywhere,’ the blonde whispered to her.

Then she was on a comfortable and soft rug in front of a roaring log fire, she quickly looked at her hand to confirm the ring was back in place and found herself relieved when it was. Then she frowned as she realised that was the only thing she wore, she looked up to see an equally undressed Emma Swan walking towards her with a wicked smile that set Regina’s heart rate racing and she smiled back.

Her eyes fluttered open and she smiled at the ceiling as her previously fragmented thoughts and feelings started to make a little more sense to her.


	38. Chapter 38

The rest of the evening was a very quiet affair. When Regina had woken up Emma had been on her laptop killing time, once she realised Regina was awake she had suggested they pick Henry up and went to dinner. They quietly got ready and headed over to see Frank and pick up Henry, Regina had thanked the older man for all his hard work in helping to find her as well as his time looking after Henry for them. Emma considered that it may well have been the first time that she had ever seen the older woman willingly thank someone unprompted.

A small argument had ensued when Regina had asked Henry where he wanted to go to dinner and had given him the choice of going anywhere he desired. Henry had immediately fired the question back at Regina and they had ended in a stalemate, both wishing to appease the other and not wanting to back down. Emma had rolled her eyes and cursed the stubborn Mills family and had eventually settled the debate with a toss of a coin.

Luckily Henry kept the conversation going while they dined in Regina’s favourite Moroccan restaurant, telling the two women about his adventures with Frank and his new desire to go into law enforcement and become a detective. Emma was certain that Regina would hate the idea but instead she smiled and encouraged him, explaining how the career path could work and what grades he would need in order to be accepted into a force. 

When Henry had left to go to the bathroom Emma had commented that she thought Regina would have been terrified at the prospect of Henry being a cop. Regina nodded her head and agreed that it was a frightening thought but she knew that if she vetoed the idea he would feel even more strongly about it. Emma had just smiled and considered how far Regina had come, she was learning to not allow her love to suffocate the boy.

When Henry had returned Emma told him that they were going to drive back to Storybrooke the next morning and he’d beamed with happiness at Regina who lowered her eyes with embarrassment and played with a napkin. Henry decided he wanted to split the journey and spend the first half in the Mercedes with Regina and the second half with Emma in the Bug. Regina had seemed a little surprised that he wanted to spend any of the journey with her but quickly smiled and told him that he would be in charge of finding good radio stations along the way.

After they ate they walked back to the hotel and came across a small tourist shop where Henry pointed out a baseball cap he was fond of. Before long Regina had decked him out with every conceivable Boston branded piece of apparel they could find in the small shop and Emma smiled, she may be learning not to suffocate Henry but she had to still learn to not try to buy his love.

Back at the hotel Regina picked up an overnight bag she had packed earlier from her car while Emma and Henry set about packing up their belongings for the drive the following morning. Regina had insisted on going to the car by herself and Emma had been very resistant to the idea until Henry seemed to detect that something was wrong. In an attempt to not worry him Emma had let the older women go but whispered that if she wasn’t back in seven minutes Emma would come down.

Regina had returned in four minutes and gave Emma a small smile when she returned. Regina helped Henry to pack his things while he got ready for bed, his suitcase was on the bed beside Emma’s duffel bag and Regina kept averting her eyes as Emma packed her skimpy underwear. 

Once Henry had left the bathroom Emma offered for Regina to go next, Henry laughed and said that Emma would regret that as the brunette always took an age in the bathroom. True enough Regina was gone for ages and Emma unpacked and repacked a number of items as well as checking time and time again to ensure they hadn’t forgotten anything. Henry lay in bed half reading his comic and half watching his seemingly nervous birth mother with a tilt of the head.

When Regina eventually emerged in her dark red silk pyjamas Henry went pale as he stared at the severe bruising around her neck which had been covered by the roll neck sweater she had worn earlier. Regina sat on the bed and calmed him and told him the bruising was from her previous injury and that it had taken a while to come up and it looked a lot worse than it was. 

Henry worried his lip and looked at her with heart aching concern as his eyes traced the angry purple marks around her neck. Eventually he asked if he could share her bed that evening and a surprised Regina nodded as Henry turned and sought out Emma’s permission. Emma smiled and nodded and excused herself to the bathroom to get ready. When she returned Regina was sat up in her bed with her arm around Henry as he read the latest adventures of Batman to her in the dim glow of their bedside nightlight. 

Regina looked over Henry’s head and made eye contact with Emma and they shared a smile. Emma picked up a book from the desk and could feel Regina’s eyes watching her in her tight tank top and short shorts, she smiled to herself and picked up her reading glasses and decided to sit at the desk, in front of Regina, rather than in her bed beside the pair.

Emma placed her long legs on the table and leaned the chair back on its back legs as she put on her glasses and opened the book. She could feel Regina’s gaze on her occasionally and, despite wanting to, she kept her focus on the book in front of her. But she wasn’t reading, she was thinking about the evening and how perfect it had been with the three of them.


	39. Chapter 39

“So, what’s happening between you and Emma?” Henry asked as he leaned forward in the passenger seat and adjusted the radio.

Regina gripped the wheel a little harder, “w-what do you mean?”

“You keep staring at each other weirdly,” Henry grinned.

“No we don’t,” Regina quickly denied.

“Yeah, right, Mom,” Henry said as he found a good radio station and leaned back and looked at the brunette who was focussing on the yellow Bug in front of her as they drove a quiet main road towards Storybrooke, “I have eyes, you know.”

“It’s.. been a.. difficult time lately, for all of us,” Regina said firmly, “we’re trying to sort a few things out.”

“What happened to Skye?” Henry asked, “did Emma get rid of her?”

“Henry!” Regina admonished him for sounding so pleased about the idea, “Emma.. did no such thing. Skye.. well, we weren’t working out..”

“After Emma arrived?” Henry grinned from ear to ear.

“Henry,” Regina said in her warning tone.

“It’s okay, Mom,” Henry said as he turned to look out of the passenger window, “I think it’s great. You both obviously like each other.”

Regina glanced at the boy with a frown and then turned her attention back to the road, “what do you mean?”

Henry turned to look at Regina, “well, since Emma and me got to Boston you two haven’t fought once. In fact you seem to like spending time together,” Henry turned and looked back out of the passenger window, “it’s really nice.”

Regina stared ahead in silence for a few minutes before finally speaking again, “Henry,” she addressed him and waited for him to turn to face her, “do you remember when you were eight and you thought I had started dating your art teacher, Mister Nicholls?”

Henry nodded, “yes..”

“And I made you a promise that if I was ever considering dating anyone, bringing someone new into our family, that I would discuss it with you first?”

Henry smiled at the memory, “yes?”

Regina took a deep breath, “the thing is, Henry, sometimes adults don’t know the best decision to make. They try to do the right thing but for reasons that they cannot control.. things go wrong..”

Henry frowned as he watched his mother struggle for the words she needed.

“I.. the thing, well, I think Miss Swan.. Emma.. and I.. might like to spend more time together,” Regina finally said.

Henry beamed happily and Regina could practically see him bouncing in his chair and quickly continued in a serious tone, “but that’s not to say that it will work out, in fact things might go very wrong. We might fight more than we used to in the first place..”

Henry interrupted her with a light laugh, “I don’t think that’s possible, Mom..”

She smiled at the memories of their first fiery altercations, “well, it could be.. we’re both very strong-willed people,” she admitted, “but, I want to discuss this with you and you have to try to be level headed about this. We need to consider this together, as a family, you and I. Look at the potential negative points and..”

“Mom..” Henry interrupted with a small sigh.

Regina frowned and quickly glanced at him, “what?”

“As long as you try to make it work..” Henry said, “and.. if it really doesn’t.. as long as I can still see Emma then it’s all good.”

“But things could become strained between Emma and I if things don’t work out,” Regina repeated.

“Would you stop me from seeing Emma?” Henry questioned.

“No,” Regina shook her head, “no, I’d never do that. We’d work something out that worked for all of us, especially you.”

“Then I think you should go for it,” Henry nodded, “I think you need each other.”

Regina looked surprised, “what makes you say that?”

“She’s the Saviour,” Henry said as if it were obvious, “she’s hear to save everyone, including you.”

“Saving me doesn’t necessarily mean dating me,” Regina pointed out.

“She broke the curse,” Henry said, “the curse wasn’t making you happy.”

“What makes you say that?” Regina scoffed.

“Because I heard you crying at night,” Henry said quietly, not daring to look at his mother as he worried his hands in his lap and looked down, “because you were so sad, even before I got the book from Miss Blanchard, you worked all the time and you had no friends. You only ever spent time with me.”

Regina swallowed but didn’t reply, she quietly watched the yellow car in front of her.

“You may not have been happy when the curse broke, but you seemed relieved in some ways,” Henry said, “but Emma still has more work to do to save you.”

Regina gave a small smile, “well, we’ll see,” she whispered.

“Are you going to ask her out?” Henry asked with a hint of excitement.

“I.. I don’t know,” Regina admitted, “I hadn’t thought about it yet, I wanted to talk to you first.”

“Are you going to wait for Emma to ask you out? You might be waiting a while,” Henry shook his head, “she’s great but she’s a bit slow with things like that, I don’t think she even realised she was missing you when you were gone but she was a mess. She made me two lunches for school three times! And she kept asking me about you after we’d been talking online!”

“Did she now?” Regina grinned.

“Yeah, I didn’t tell her much, I wanted her to call you herself but she was too chicken most of the time,” Henry sighed.

“Henry..” Regina admonished with a small laugh.

“You should ask her out, or send her flowers? Or write a poem? Or send her a Valentine’s day card.. no, wait.. that’s like 8 months away..” Henry said with excitement.

“Henry,” Regina rolled her eyes, “I’ll figure something out, now I know you’re obviously on board with the idea. But you need to be discreet, we won’t want everyone to know. If that has any chance of working out then we need to take our time and not have the pressure of everyone in Storybrooke knowing.”

“Okay,” Henry nodded and stared out of the window as he daydreamed about his new family life with his mothers. A smile appeared on his face as he started to plan a new operation.


	40. Chapter 40

For the rest of their half of the journey Regina and Henry talked about Regina’s time in Boston, Henry and Emma’s new apartment and the many failed attempts at replacing Regina as Mayor in Storybrooke. Regina had told Henry that she wasn’t ready to go back home and take over the office again and he had seemed disappointed but understood her desire to slip back into Storybrooke life with as little stress as possible.

Indicator lights up ahead from the Bug showed that they had reached their halfway point as Emma pulled into a rest stop with some amenities.

“Henry,” Regina said as she followed the car into the car park, “you can’t tell Emma what we talked about, okay?”

“About the Mayor thing?” Henry smiled.

“No,” Regina grinned, “you know what I’m referring to.”

“About you two dating?” Henry questioned with a supposedly innocent smile.

Regina seemed flustered, she hadn’t used those exact words but truth be told that was exactly what she was referring to.

“You know what I mean,” Regina said as she pulled into the space beside the one Emma had parked in, “this is between you and I, okay?”

Henry looked at Regina and nodded sincerely, “you can trust me, Mom, I promise I won’t tell Emma what you said.”

Regina nodded at him and parked up the car. They both got out of the car the same time as Emma who looked over at them, “how’s it going?”

Regina nodded that she was doing well as she picked up her handbag and walked around the car.

“It’s great,” Henry said, “we played games and caught up on stuff, I was in charge of the radio..”

“Big mistake,” Regina muttered as she looked through her bag for something.

Emma smiled, “well, let’s have a break and then you can come with me,” she said to Henry who nodded happily.

“Are we eating now?” Henry asked as he looked anxiously from one mother to the next.

“You’ve been snacking all the way in the car,” Regina told him with a smile.

“But that was snacking, I need lunch now,” Henry nodded.

“I blame your genes for this bottomless pit of a stomach he has,” Regina told Emma seriously.

“I blame your cooking,” Emma replied, “when I was his age I only ate chicken nuggets..”

“Why am I not surprised?” Regina sighed.

“I’m making up for it now,” Emma smiled.

“I know, although I’ve yet to figure out where you store it all,” Regina said with a cursory glance over Emma’s frame that made the blonde blush.

After a short break they were back at the cars and Henry was sitting in the passenger seat of the Bug waiting for Emma who was talking to Regina at the back of the cars, “are you sure you’re okay to drive on? You look tired..”

“I’m fine,” Regina assured her.

“Maybe Henry should ride with you again, make sure you’re okay?” Emma worried her lip as she looked towards Henry as if about to turf him out of the Bug.

“Emma,” Regina said gently as she turned the blonde around by the shoulders and held her in place, “I am fine,” she smiled.

Emma looked into her eyes and used her superpower and slowly nodded, “okay, but if anything changes just pull over, I’ll see you and I’ll stop. Okay?”

“Absolutely,” Regina said as she let go of Emma’s shoulders, “now, let’s go home.”

Regina stepped away first and got into the Mercedes while Emma watched her all the way to assure herself that the brunette was okay. Once Regina was seated in the car she got into the Bug and put on her seatbelt and started the engine.

“Everything okay?” Henry asked as he looked up from his comic.

“Yeah,” Emma distractedly said as she nodded to Regina that she was ready and, upon receiving a nod from the brunette, put the car into reverse and guided them back to the main road.

For the first twenty minutes of the journey it was silent in the Bug until Henry closed his comic and looked at the blonde beside him, “Emma?”

“Yes, Kid?” she replied as she checked her rear-view mirror as she had been doing constantly since they started driving. 

“When are you going to ask my Mom out?” Henry asked.

“What do you mean?” Emma said as again looked at the Mercedes behind her in the mirror.

“On a date,” Henry clarified.

“What?!” Emma exclaimed as she looked from the mirror to Henry and then back to the road and then to Henry again, “what do you mean?”

Emma looked at the road again and Henry grinned before asking seriously, “I mean, are you going to ask her out on a date when we get back to Storybrooke or are you gonna leaving it a couple of days?”

Emma’s mouth hung open for a few moments as she wrapped her head around the questions and attempted to carry on driving normally.

“Because you obviously like her and it would be good for you to ask her because she’ll never ask you because.. she’s Mom,” he finished with a shrug.

“Do you think she’d say yes?” Emma asked as she looked in the rear-view mirror and then back to the road again.

Henry smiled, Emma wasn’t denying that she wanted to go on the date just expressing concern if Regina would accept an invitation.

“I think you need to ask her,” Henry said diplomatically.

Emma thought on this for a few seconds before asking, “has she said anything to you?”

“Nope,” Henry said but Emma’s lie detector pinged immediately and she stared at him for a second.

“What did she say, Henry?” Emma asked as she looked from him to the road and back again several times.

“I can’t say,” Henry admitted, “I promised.”

“Oh,” Emma nodded, “okay, you can’t break a promise..”

Henry rolled his eyes, sometimes his mother could be really dim, “nope, I can’t.. but why would Mom make me promise?”

Emma frowned, “what do you.. oh, oh! She.. told you she likes me! And then made you promise not to tell me.. She wouldn’t bother if she was telling you she didn’t like me..” the blonde grinned from ear to ear.

“I can’t say anything, I made a promise,” Henry said as she picked up his comic again.

“What else did she say?” Emma asked.

“Emma..” Henry warned.

“Okay,” Emma thought for a moment, “do you think I should ask her out on a date?”

“Yes,” Henry said as he flipped through his comic pages.

“When do you think I should ask her?” Emma asked him.

“Are you asking me for dating advice?” Henry said as he looked at her with a chuckle.

“No, I’m asking you advice on your Mom, you know her better than anyone,” Emma said with a smile.

“In that case I think you should ask her as soon as possible, in case she gets scared and changes her mind, she does that,” Henry nodded.

“Okay,” Emma replied.

After a moment she spoke again, “where should I take her?”

“Out of town,” Henry said simply.

“Okay,” Emma said and then frown, “where?”

“Simpsons,” Henry said.

“Where’s that?” Emma asked.

Henry closed his comic and looked at the blonde with exasperation, “I don’t know, I know she likes it and it’s about half an hour outside of Storybrooke, I don’t date much.”

Emma laughed, “sorry, Henry.. I just..”

“Want to get it right,” he finished for her.

“Yes, exactly,” she smiled.

“Then just be you, she said she likes you so she must like you for being you,” Henry said with childlike innocence.

Emma thought about it for a second and then smiled, “you’re very wise, Henry..”

“I know,” he smiled, “dunno where I get it from..” he mumbled under his breath with a small smile.


	41. Chapter 41

As the two cars crossed the town line and drove into Storybrooke Emma looked into the rear-view mirror and frowned, “something’s wrong..” she said as she quickly pulled the car over and stopped. Henry turned around to look through the rear window and could see that Regina had stopped the Mercedes as well, he turned to ask Emma what was going on but the blonde was already out of the car. 

Emma sprinted towards Regina and threw the driver’s door open and stared at the older woman. She was staring at her outstretched, shaking hands and almost hyperventilating.

“Regina? What’s wrong?” Emma questioned on the border of panic.

“Mom!” Henry cried as he caught up to Emma and weaved his way around Emma to grab the brunette’s hands, “Mom, are you okay?”

The contact jolted Regina out of her trance and she looked at Henry in confusion for a moment as she blinked, “yes, yes, I’m.. I’m fine, sorry, Henry..”

Henry threw himself at Regina and hugged her and her arms went around his back to comfort him.

Emma released the breath she had been holding, “what happened?”

“Magic,” Regina whispered, “I could feel my magic returning..”

She looked as if she expected Henry to rear back from her and then relieved when he didn’t.

Emma nodded even though she clearly had no idea what was going on, “how.. how did it feel?”

“Disconcerting,” Regina admitted, “I didn’t notice it leave me when I left before but I was certainly aware of it returning.”

Henry pulled back and knelt outside the car looking up at his adoptive mother with a smile, “do you want to test your magic?”

Regina looked afraid, as if she worried this was some kind of test and quickly shook her head.

“It’s okay,” Henry tried to reassure her, “I don’t mind.”

“Henry..” Emma said in quiet warning to the young boy.

“Maybe you could use magic to heal your bruises?” Henry said as he looked at the roll neck sweater Regina was again wearing to cover up the black and purple finger marks around her throat.

“I.. I can’t heal myself,” Regina said quietly.

Henry raised his eyebrow, “why not?”

“Henry..” Emma said a little more firmly this time.

“It’s okay, Emma,” Regina addressed the blonde before looking back at Henry, “you know that Mister Gold taught me my magic?”

Henry nodded and Regina continued, “well, he.. wanted to be in control. Of me. So he only taught me some very basic healing spells and never any knowledge on how to heal myself. It is the most difficult of magic.”

Henry’s brow knitted as he took this new information on board, “he did it so you couldn’t fight him?”

“In a manner of speaking, yes,” Regina said quietly, “but that was all a very long time ago.”

The three of them remained silent for a while, each lost in their own thoughts until Henry spoke again, “that’s why you lash out..”

Regina looked up at him with confusion.

“Because you can’t heal yourself..” Henry told her as if he’d had an epiphany.

“Are you okay to drive on, or do you want to come with us and get your car later?” Emma said in an attempt to move the subject onto safer grounds.

“I’m okay, it was just a shock when we first crossed the town line, I’m fine to carry on,” Regina looked up at Emma with a small smile.

“I’m travelling with Mom,” Henry announced and stood up and walked around the car. He paused as he got to the front of the car and then turned to look at the two women who were watching him, “I mean, this Mom,” he said pointed at Regina before continuing around the car and getting into the passenger seat.

Emma grinned at Regina and pointed her thumb towards her own car, “I’ll see you at yours?”

Regina nodded, “lead the way..”

Emma jogged back towards the Bug, closing the open passenger door where Henry had leapt out before walking around to get into the driver’s seat and moving off. Regina put the car into gear and followed, “I’m sorry I worried you,” she told Henry sincerely.

“It’s okay,” Henry said, “I’m just happy you’re okay..”

Regina nodded and hesitated for a moment before adding, “Henry, if you are still.. concerned about me using magic.. I won’t do it, you know? You don’t have to say you’re comfortable with me using magic in order for me to stay.”

“I know,” Henry said with assurance, “I want you to have the option, you know? If you need to.”

Regina nodded, understanding his unspoken meaning that he wanted her to be able to use her magic to protect herself if necessary. 

“Maybe you could learn how to heal yourself?” Henry suggested.

“I don’t think people would be happy with me studying magic,” Regina admitted.

“So what?” Henry shrugged, “it’s none of their business.”

Regina laughed, “it’s not that simple I’m afraid, Henry, when you’ve done the things I’ve done then everything you do is someone else’s business.”

“Emma will protect you,” Henry promised, “so will Mary Margaret and David.”

Regina outright laughed at that, “oh, I doubt that very much, Henry.”

They turned into Mifflin Street and Regina noticed that David’s pickup truck was parked outside her house and rolled her eyes, “see? They are probably hear to read me the riot act..”

Henry looked ahead at the car but as they pulled up outside there was a big banner across the porch with ‘welcome home’ in colourful letters. Henry grinned and turned to see his mother’s shocked face, “you were saying?”

“What.. on earth?” Regina whispered as she stared at the assembled townspeople in her garden. They were all smiling happily at her and waving, she looked towards Emma who had gotten out of the Bug and was looking at Regina with a smile and a shrug that indicated it was as much of a surprise to her.

“Come on, Mom,” Henry said as he opened the car door and climbed out.

Regina sat in the car for a few moments and looked again at the welcome home party that was spread out on her lawn and sighed and shook her head as she held onto the door handle and braced herself.


	42. Chapter 42

Regina stepped out of the car and closed the door behind her and stood rooted to the spot as she saw Mary Margaret and Granny walking towards her with big smiles on their faces. 

“For the record I had nothing to do with this and no knowledge of it,” Emma whispered as she stood beside Regina for support.

Before Regina had a chance to reply Mary Margaret was stood in front of her with a nervous smile, “Regina..” she started.

“Snow,” Regina drawled tersely as she waited for the other shoe to drop.

Suddenly Mary Margaret threw her arms around the older woman’s neck and pulled her into a hug. Regina stood with her arms outstretched in shock and looked at Emma in confusion as Granny piled in and hugged Regina and Mary Margaret together.

Emma laughed at Regina’s face and Regina glared at her, “have they been cursed? Is there a gas leak?”

Before Emma had a chance to reply Granny had stepped back and gently slapped Regina on the shoulder, “we’re happy to see you!”

Mary Margaret stepped back as well and smiled, “it’s good to see you, safe and well.”

“And home!” David said as he approached the group and tentatively reached in and gave Regina a small peck on the cheek.

“I hope you don’t mind, we thought we’d throw a welcome home party,” Mary Margaret said as she gestured around the garden.

“We couldn’t get them all into the diner,” Granny continued, “so we thought where better than here?”

Regina just nodded dumbly as she looked around at the turnout of people. Emma looked at the brunette and then at Mary Margaret and then back to Regina, “give us a second,” she instructed as she turned Regina around and walked towards the Bug and away from the crowd.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know they’d do this,” Emma said as soon as they were out of earshot.

“Why have they done this?” Regina asked in utter puzzlement, “they hate me!”

“They don’t hate you,” Emma clarified, “they.. well..”

“Out with it,” Regina folded her arms and stared at Emma.

“Well, firstly they realised that no one could run the town like you could..” Emma ignored Regina’s snort of derision, “but then Granny and Mary Margaret were on the jury at your case.”

“What case?” Regina frowned.

“After I arrested Marco, Moe French and Stefan I couldn’t just keep them in the cell indefinitely so we decided the best thing to do would be to have a trial. To make sure it was fair Archie was the judge and we got together a jury. Granny and Mary Margaret were members of the jury because it’s well known that both of them..”

“Hate me,” Regina quipped snidely.

“Yeah,” Emma shrugged, “I suppose.. anyway, I presented the evidence I had, including some of the video footage.. they.. well, they saw what happened. It changed their opinion of you, I think it gave them a lot to think about.”

Regina looked angry, “so now they pity me too?”

“They don’t pity you, they have come to the same conclusion that I did.. you’re not the Evil Queen anymore, you’re just Regina. And you’re trying to be better,” Emma insisted.

“They wouldn’t throw you a welcome home party if they pitied you,” Emma continued, “they care.”

Regina sighed and looked around at the group of people and Emma smiled, “look, just.. try.. okay? Just give them an hour or so and see what happens? Please?”

“Mom,” Henry said as he came running over to them, “this is so cool, isn’t it?”

“Yes, Henry, it’s lovely,” Regina smiled at him.

“Come on I want you to try the fruit punch that Ruby made,” Henry pulled on Regina’s arm.

“Erm..” Emma hesitated.

“It’s just fruit,” Henry assured her with a roll of the eyes.

Henry dragged Regina away and Mary Margaret and Granny approached Emma, “I’m sorry, we should have warned you,” Mary Margaret said.

“It’s okay,” Emma smiled, “it’s really nice, I’m glad you did it, it will just take her a while.. you know?”

“What happened?” Granny asked, “she has marks on her temples..”

Emma nodded solemnly, “I’ll tell you later, but she’s been through a lot..”

Mary Margaret watched as Regina approached Ruby and started having a conversation about the punch that was set up on a small wooden table and took a glass that Ruby handed to her.

“What can we do?” Mary Margaret asked Emma.

Emma shrugged, “I don’t know.. she just needs time I guess..”

Granny nodded, “I’m going to go and speak with her,” she said as she set off towards the brunette with a kind but determined look in her eye.

“Are you okay, Honey?” Mary Margaret said as she looked at Emma with concern.

Emma nodded, “I’m just a little worried about her..”

Mary Margaret nodded, “yes, I understand, but as you say she just needs time. In the meantime let’s enjoy the party.”


	43. Chapter 43

“Henry, have you seen your Mom?” Emma asked Henry as she weaved her way past a hastily constructed game of ring toss using empty juice cartons from Ruby’s punch.

Henry was about to throw a ball at some stacked cans that Doc had set up when he heard Emma’s query and looked around the garden, “no, not for a while,” he said with a shrug, “maybe she’s inside?”

Emma nodded to him to continue his game and made her way into the house. After the initial shock had worn off Regina had happily greeted her unexpected guests and unlocked the house and told everyone to feel free to use the facilities. Since then Emma had seen her working her way around the party with a shy smile as she attempted to speak to everyone who had shown up. 

Their eyes met every now and then as Emma sought our reassurance that the older woman was doing well and each time Regina gave that little smile that Emma was growing to love as well as a slight incline of her head. But that was some time ago and since Emma had been dragged into long discussions regarding the plans for a summer festival as well as whether or not Regina would be returning to the Mayor’s office. 

Emma walked into the house and could hear people inside so continued up the stairs and could see in the living room that Mary Margaret was sat down with some of the nuns and some of the teachers, they seemed to be discussing the summer festival. Anxious to avoid getting roped into that conversation again Emma decided to head towards the kitchen, from the doorway she could see Regina and Granny standing side by side leaning forward on their elbows on the kitchen counter. They were discussing recipes and Regina was handwriting ingredients and recipes for the older woman who was asking about some kind of sauce that they were discussing. 

Emma was about to step in when David came in through the back door leading Dopey who had both hands over his face with blood trickling through the gaps between his fingers.

“Regina, do you have a first aid kit?” David asked hastily.

Regina nodded and walked over to the kitchen sink, “sit him down there,” she pointed to a dining chair, “what happened?”

“He tripped on his shoelace,” David said as he guided the man to chair and sat him down, “went straight into the concrete.”

Regina had gotten the first aid kit from the cupboard under the sink and walked over to Dopey who was still gripping his face and peaking over the tops of his hands at the people around him.

David took a step back, he wasn’t very good at blood and injuries which Emma had always felt was quite funny considering the tough warrior he portrayed himself to be. Regina pulled another chair towards Dopey and perched on the edge of it as she opened the first aid kit on the dining table. She looked at Dopey and gave a soft smile, “we’ll need to see,” she told him but he simply shook his head.

Granny came over and folded her arms sternly, “come on now, we can’t help you if you don’t show us.”

He shook his head again and a little more blood trickled through the gaps between his fingers. Regina turned to Granny, “could you go into the utility and get a hand towel and soak it in cold water?”

Granny nodded and turned to look for the utility room and Regina looked up at David, “David, can you find his hat?”

David blinked, “his hat?”

“Yes, he has a purple woollen hat, he is always wearing it, I think it might help if he has it..” Regina reasoned.

David nodded and quickly headed out of the back door again in search of the hat. Once Dopey and Regina were seemingly alone she looked at him again and smiled, “I’m not going to hurt you.”

“I know,” he mumbled through his hands.

Regina nodded, “good, then let’s have a look at the damage..”

She gently raised her hands to his and lightly pulled on his hands to reveal his face. There were large grazes on his cheek and across his nose and it looked very sore. Regina took his chin in her hand and delicately angled his head so she could carefully inspect the damage. She lifted her other hand and waved it gently across his face and a purple glow emanated from her palm and Emma could see the flesh wounds healing slightly.

“There,” Regina said softly, “is that a little better?”

Dopey nodded and Granny returned to the kitchen with a damp towel, “how is it looking?”

“Superficial grazes,” Regina replied, “just needs cleaning up a little.”

Emma grinned to herself and stepped away from the kitchen and walked back outside to join Henry in some of the impromptu games that had been set up. Half an hour later Granny emerged from the house and announced that she was heading back to the diner to set up for dinner. Ruby rolled her eyes as that meant that she had to leave as well and a few other people took the opportunity to leave. 

Dopey exited the house with some bandages across his face and his trademark purple hat on his head. Henry looked up as he walked towards them, “what happened to you?”

“Fell,” Dopey said simply with a shrug.

“Oh,” Henry said simply, “is it bad?”

Dopey shrugged.

“Wanna play?” Henry said as he handed Dopey a couple of hoops to throw over the juice cartons. Dopey nodded happily and took the hoops and Emma saw Regina appear on the porch and appeared to be watching the interaction. 

Emma put her hands in her back pockets and walked over to the brunette. She looked at Dopey and asked Regina, “what happened to him?”

“Idiot hit his face on the path,” Regina rolled her eyes.

“Oh,” Emma smiled knowingly, “so.. who bandaged him up?”

“Well,” Regina folded her arms defensively, “I couldn’t let him bleed all over the carpets.”

Emma leaned in close and whispered, “and who used magic to heal him even though she didn’t need to?”

Regina swallowed and looked around nervously, “don’t worry,” Emma said quickly, “no one saw but me. It was very sweet of you..”

Regina shook her head, “I’m not sweet, Miss Swan.”

“Sheriff Swan,” Emma corrected with a wink.

Regina smirked and looked at Emma with a raised eyebrow.

Emma swallowed at the sexual expression and cleared her throat, “erm, shall we unload your car?” Emma said as she looked around the garden, “before the party completely dies down and we’re left with no helpers.”

Regina nodded, “by all means..” she raised her hand for Emma to lead the way.


	44. Chapter 44

“Emma,” Mary Margaret said and gestured for Emma to join her in the privacy of the living room.

Emma looked up to where the last of the boxes were being brought into the house and then to Mary Margaret and followed her into the room with a raised eyebrow.

“David and I are going to take Henry tonight,” Mary Margaret said with a wide grin.

“Mom!” Emma whispered and dragged the woman further into the room so no one could hear their conversation, “why?”

“So you and Regina can have some alone time,” Mary Margaret smiled again and gave her daughter a small punch on the upper arm.

Emma stared at her, “don’t do that,” she shook her head, “like, really, don’t ever do that..”

Mary Margaret continued to smile happily, “it’s just so great, you’re all home and Regina seems so much happier, and you’re happier. Oh, Emma, you were so miserable when she was gone!”

Emma dragged Mary Margaret further away from the door, “do you wanna yell that a little louder, Mom?”

“So I’ve already discussed it with Henry and he is packing an overnight bag,” Mary Margaret said, “I’ll tell Regina so she doesn’t think it was your idea.. unless you want me to tell her it was your idea?”

“No!” Emma flustered, “seriously, enough with the matchmaking..”

Regina could be heard from the hallway and Mary Margaret glided past Emma excitedly, “Regina!”

“My Mom is setting me up with the Evil Queen.. this isn’t happening, this isn’t happening..” Emma whispered to herself as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

A few moments later Regina came into the living room, “ah, there you are.”

“Here I am,” Emma nodded.

“Henry wants to stay with Snow and Charming tonight, I told him it was fine..” Regina drifted off as if silently asking Emma for her thoughts.

“Sure.. sure..” Emma said distractedly.

“Are you quite all right?” Regina asked with a frown.

“Yep!” Emma quickly answered, “just.. parents.. you know?” 

“Mm,” Regina nodded, “Snow does seem rather..” she paused as she considered her words, “happy.”

Emma nodded, “yeah, she is..”

Regina grinned mischievously, “do you have any idea why that might be, Emma?”

Emma looked up and was about to speak when David entered the room and clasped his hands together, “all done, the boxes are all in and in the correct rooms,” he reached into his pocket and handed Regina the keys to her car, “we’re going to get out of here and let you settle in.. unless you need anything else?”

Regina took the keys and dumbly shook her head, “er, no.. well.. er, thank you, David..”

David beamed happily, “no problem, let me know if you need anything else, we’ll be getting out of your hair now!”

He turned around and whistled to collect his team of helpers who all filed out of the house with a wave or a smile to Regina as they left. Dopey was the last to leave and stood in the middle of the hallway looking at Regina with a happy smile as he worried his purple woollen hat in his hands. David took the young man by the shoulders and directed him out of the house with a grin.

Henry raced down the stairs with his rucksack and gave Regina a quick hug, “bye Mom, see you tomorrow!”

Regina barely had time to react before he was running to Emma and doing the same before running down the stairs and closing the front door behind him with a bang.

“Wow,” Emma muttered into the silent hallway, “was it something we said?”

Regina walked into the living room and flopped into an armchair and closed her eyes.

“Are you okay?” Emma asked softly.

“I’m trying to figure out what that was about,” Regina admitted, “what do they want from me?”

Emma sat on the sofa opposite Regina and was about to speak with the brunette spoke again, “has something happened? Do they need me to fight some monster or help them with magic? Are they under another curse?”

“Regina..” Emma started.

“Is it an elaborate trap?” Regina interrupted as she opened her eyes and stared up at the ceiling, “gain my trust and then.. what? Lock me up? Have they constructed a cell to keep me in?”

“Regina,” Emma said louder this time and was thankful when Regina looked at her with a confused expression, “Regina, there’s nothing going on. There’s no plan, no monster to fight, they don’t want anything from you.. please, trust me on this.”

“I don’t understand,” Regina whispered with confusion as she sat up and leaned her elbows onto her thighs, “I just don’t understand..”

“When..” Emma said and then sighed before carrying on, “when you were gone I think people felt bad, you’d been run out of town. They could see that you had tried to be better but they hadn’t noticed. And then the attack..” Emma drifted off, “and they didn’t notice that either. As I said earlier, the court case raised a few eyebrows.”

“So..” Regina said, “all of this.. is because..”

“Think of it as an apology and a welcome home and a let’s be friends all in one,” Emma gave her a soft smile.

Regina nodded and was about to reply when the doorbell rang. Emma saw Regina’s face drop, her body froze in fear and she looked terrified.

“Regina?” Emma asked softly but Regina was shaking in fear and Emma stood up and knelt beside her, “Regina?”

Regina’s eyes made contact with Emma’s but she was still terrified and Emma could tell she was hyperventilating. The doorbell rang again and Regina’s fear intensified and Emma looked from the brunette to the hallway torn between wanting to comfort Regina and knowing that another ring of the doorbell could send Regina into even more of a panic.

“Wait here,” Emma said and gently touched Regina’s hand before sprinting towards the front door, hoping to catch it before the person on the other side decided to ring again.

She swung the door open to reveal Mary Margaret, “sorry, Emma, Henry forgot his hiking boots and we were going to go for a walk on the trail.”

Emma nodded and walked over to the closet and opened the door and quickly located Henry’s boots and handed them to Mary Margaret.

“Wonderful,” she smiled as she turned and started walking down the path again, “I’ll see you tomorrow!”

Emma closed the door and ran back to the living room where Regina was sat in exactly the same position, her hands still shaking. She looked up with wild eyes, “I can’t stay here, not again, I can’t..” she implored Emma.

Emma nodded and crouched down in front of Regina and took her hand, “it’s okay, you don’t have to.. you can stay at mine.”


	45. Chapter 45

Emma unlocked the door to her apartment and pushed the door open and gestured for Regina to go inside. The brunette hesitantly walked in and stood just inside the apartment and looked around in confusion.

Since the incident at 108 Mifflin Street Regina had hardly said a word. Emma had quickly gotten Regina out of the house and into the Bug and then rushed back into the house and picked up Regina’s overnight bag as well as some additional clothes. Emma had done her best to keep the atmosphere light but Regina was steadfast in her silence and Emma was beginning to get a little worried.

“So,” Emma said as she placed a couple of bags by the door, “this is the new place.”

Regina slowly nodded and Emma closed the front door and turned to place her hand on Regina’s lower back and gently guided her into the open plan apartment and towards the living room sofa. Regina sat down and Emma bit her lip in concern, “I’m going to get you some tea,” she decided and walked into the kitchen and started to fill the kettle.

She looked for the most suitable mug that she thought Regina wouldn’t roll her eyes at and then put a teabag into the receptacle. She knew that Regina’s favourite tea was cinnamon and apple as Henry had mentioned he liked the smell. Emma had bought some, she wasn’t sure why but now she was glad that she had it. As the kettle boiled she looked over at Regina who was sat stiffly on the edge of the sofa with her hands in her lap and staring at the floor distractedly.

Emma opened a cupboard and took out a couple of mixing bowls and found the shortbread biscuits that she had hidden at the back. Henry would have devoured the treats in seconds if he knew where they were but Emma liked to save them for a special treat. She opened the box and placed a few biscuits on a plate and carried it over to the coffee table in front of Regina and stood beside her. 

After a few moments Regina seemed to realise Emma was stood there and she slowly looked up at Emma and blinked as if seeing her for the first time. Her eyes were still glazed over from the unshed tears as well as the confusion.

“There are some biscuits, I think you should eat something,” Emma said and pointed at the plate. 

Regina nodded slowly and robotically reached forward and picked up a biscuit. Emma heard the kettle finish boiling and returned to the kitchen to finish the tea and when she returned she placed the tea beside the biscuit plate and sat next to Regina and smiled as she noticed that Regina had eaten one biscuit and was working on a second.

“You can have my room, the sheets are clean.. I’ll take Henry’s room,” Emma said softly.

“I’m sorry,” Regina breathed so quietly that Emma nearly missed it.

“D-don’t be!” Emma said, relieved that Regina was speaking again.

“I thought I was over it,” Regina sighed as she picked up the mug of tea and held it in her lap with both hands.

Emma bit her lip, she didn’t know what was best to say so she chose to say nothing and hoped Regina would continue. 

“I’m sorry to put you out, I can stay at Granny’s..” Regina said with a grim nod.

“No way,” Emma said defiantly and Regina looked at her with surprise, “you’re staying here. I want to keep an eye on you, I feel responsible for this.”

“Why on earth are you responsible?” Regina questioned in surprise.

“If I’d have done my job you wouldn’t have been attacked in the first place,” Emma said as she stood up and walked over to the window that overlooked the main street, “I knew that people were talking about you, I knew there was trouble starting but I ignored it. You were a vulnerable citizen, I should have checked on you!”

“You couldn’t have known,” Regina said with equal determination. 

Emma turned around and folded her arms, “but I should have known that coming back would be hard for you, that you would struggle being back at the house after.. what happened.”

“My weaknesses are not your priority,” Regina shook her head.

“It’s not weakness!” Emma frowned.

“I had a panic attack, a flashback!” Regina exhaled with a shake of the head.

“It’s not weakness,” Emma reasserted.

Regina waved her hand to dismiss the opinions of the blonde, “regardless, I thought this particular.. Achilles heel.. was gone.”

Emma took in a deep breath to prevent herself from arguing over the terminology and then asked, “you had panic attacks in Boston?”

Regina nodded and looked down at the floor to break eye contact with the blonde.

“I’m sorry,” Emma offered.

Regina chuckled, “oddly enough it was Skye who helped me to get over them.”

Emma felt herself bristle slightly at the mention of the redhead before an unwanted shiver came over her body. She shook her head to rid herself of the oppressing jealousy, “I’m glad you had someone.”

Regina nodded and Emma threw her arms down by her side and dragged her feet back over to the sofa and sat beside Regina again. Emma hated Skye with a passion, the jealousy filled her head but she knew that the redhead had meant something to Regina so she swallowed down her irritability and asked, “so.. what did Skye do? To help you get over a panic attack?”

Regina looked up at Emma with a smirk, “we made love.”

Emma felt her cheeks blush wildly as she looked away and stared at the radiator on the wall as if just noticing it, “oh, right.. er, right, yes..” she stammered.

“But then, that was her answer to everything,” Regina said without any trace of bitterness.

Emma could feel her mouth go dry and her brain raced to come up with an appropriate, sensible response.

“Biscuit,” Emma said.

“What?” Regina smiled as she looked at the now beetroot-faced blonde beside her.

“Would you like another biscuit?” Emma said again as she grabbed the plate and thrust it towards Regina.

“Does talking about sex make you uncomfortable?” Regina asked with a raised eyebrow.

“N-no!” Emma stuttered, “I just thought..”

“That I might like a biscuit?” Regina asked as the corner of her mouth curled up into a smile.

“Yes!” Emma replied quickly.

Regina reached up and took the plate from Emma’s shaking hand and placed it back on the table, “not so long ago you told me you wanted me to be happy,” the brunette said as she slid a little closer to Emma, “you told me you thought you could do that..”

Emma knotted her hands in her lap and stared at Regina in trepidation as she nodded, afraid to speak as she knew she’d stutter her words.

“And then there was that display when you were reading before bed last night,” Regina said with a grin as she remembered the way Emma’s long legs rested on the table as the blonde wore only shorts and a thin, tight tank top.

“No display..” Emma tried to protest.

“Definitely a display,” Regina corrected as she inched even closer and grinned as Emma attempted to retreat but was held on place by the unyielding arm of the sofa, “not an unwelcome one.”

Regina pressed even closer until their thighs were pressed together and her arm rested on the sofa behind Emma, allowing her to lean in closer as she whispered to the anxious blonde, “don’t you want me, Emma?”

Emma jumped up to her feet and quickly walked over to the window as she attempted to calm her breathing before she spun around and looked at Regina who was regarding her with an amused smile.

“I..” Emma said, “well, I.. no, you..” she folded her arms, “the thing is..”

Regina leaned back on the sofa and crossed her legs, allowing her skirt to show a little more of her leg than was perhaps appropriate and Emma found herself staring at Regina’s legs as she continued to mumble nonsense.

“Up here, Saviour,” Regina commented and Emma’s eyes snapped up to Regina’s.

“I don’t.. I don’t have a clue what I’m doing,” Emma admitted with a panicked look, “I just know I missed you when you were gone, like a part of me was missing. I’ve never been with a woman before, ignore the check shirts and the profession, I’m really not a lesbian. I just want to be with you, be a part of your life, make sure you are happy.. and safe.. protected.. loved.”

Regina blinked in astonishment and a look of utter confusion fell over her face as she stood up and stared at Emma with uncertainty before suddenly rushing to the front door and leaving the apartment.


	46. Chapter 46

Emma watched the brunette race out of the apartment and opened her mouth in shock before she found her legs carrying her towards the door as well, “Regina!”

The blonde quickly grabbed her keys and slammed the door shut behind her as she ran into the hallway and down the stairs and burst through the street door and onto the main road. She looked up and down the road but couldn’t see the woman anywhere, “Regina!”

“She just vanished,” a voice said from across the road.

Emma looked up to see Granny looking back at her, “vanished?”

“Yep,” Granny said and waved her arm around in an impression of Regina, “purple smoke and everything.”

“Dammit!” Emma said as she dragged her fingers through her hair.

“She’ll be at her vault,” Granny said with a sigh, “it’s where she always goes.. don’t you know that yet?”

Emma smacked herself on the forehead with the palm of her hand, “of course, thanks Granny!”

She unlocked the Bug and quickly climbed in and started the car as she made her way to the cemetery. Her mind was spinning with what had just occurred as she wondered what the hell she had done wrong. Regina had definitely been flirting with her, she had definitely come on to her. Emma couldn’t figure out what she had done wrong no matter how many times she played the scene over in her mind.

She skidded the car to a halt and ran the rest of the way towards Regina’s family crypt and hammered on the closed doors when she got there, “Regina? Are you in there?”

Emma took a step back and looked at the vault for a few moments before approaching again and hammering some more on the door, “Regina, I’m going to count to three and if you haven’t opened the door by then.. I’ll.. I’ll kick the door down,” she paused for a second, “again.”

She listened for any sound of movement on the other sound of the door as she loudly counted, “one..” she tried the handle a few times, “two..” she put her ear against the door to see if she could hear anything behind the heavy wooden door.

“Okay, you asked for it.. three!” Emma said as she elbowed the door a couple of times to dislodge the lock. The door gave way on the third attempt and she fell into the crypt and looked up to see Regina’s back.

“You owe me another door,” Regina said quietly.

“You could have opened it,” Emma said as she rubbed her shoulder, “why did you run away? What did I do wrong?”

Regina remained standing at the far wall with her back to Emma as she shook her head and gently replied, “you didn’t do anything wrong, Emma.. I did.”

“Then why do I feel shitty?” Emma cried out, “I must have done something!”

Regina turned around and Emma could see that the older woman had been crying. She looked at Emma with confusion, “you.. I thought, I thought it was just about sex. I thought it was a physical thing,” Regina explained, “but.. what you said, you.. you care for me..”

“Of course I care for you!” Emma breathed.

Regina looked at Emma with confusion plain on her face, “why?”

“I don’t know!” Emma shouted, “I just do, you’re a massive pain in the ass but for some reason I love you!”

“Love me?” Regina took a step back in surprise.

“Yeah, love you,” Emma nodded her head, “I’m sorry I freaked out back there, I just.. I’ve never been with a woman and you were flirting and I just panicked. I want it, hell I want it so much I can hardly see straight.. I just don’t really know what it is.. I might need a book or something..”

“You love me?” Regina repeated, still staring at Emma like she had no idea who she was.

“I mean, I don’t expect to be up to Skye’s standards,” Emma continued, practically to herself, “but you can tell me what you.. you know.. like.. and stuff. And, yeah, I’ll get a book. Amazon must cover that..”

“Emma,” Regina called to the blonde to snap her out of her rambling.

“Hmm?” Emma looked up at Regina after being shaken from her thoughts.

“I don’t know if I can.. if I can give you what you deserve,” Regina admitted sadly.

Emma frowned, “I.. just want you.. no expectations, no demands.. I just want you in my life. If you’ll have me?”

Regina stared at Emma in happy wonderment but Emma sighed as she assumed Regina would need further convincing on the subject, “I don’t have much,” Emma said as she looked at her feet, “you know that, but I’m a pretty good girlfriend. I once took a masseuse course so I’m awesome at that and I know you get that trapped nerve in your shoulder because I’ve seen you tilting your neck in pain. And I’m romantic, well, quite romantic I suppose. I can’t cook.. but I can eat with appreciation. I’m good at making cups of tea. And I’m good at cleaning, and ironing, weirdly I like ironing. And, oh! Yeah, I don’t snore.. at all, promise.”

Emma was busy thinking of another reason why Regina should consider including her in her life when she noticed Regina was stood in front of her. She looked up in surprise and the older woman took the blonde in her arms and kissed her softly on the lips.

Half stunned, Emma held onto Regina like she was a lifeline as she wrapped one arm around the brunette’s back and the other brought up to hold her head as she deepened the kiss. They attempted to draw one another closer as the kiss built in passion until Emma pulled away, “can we go home? I don’t want to make out in a crypt..”

Regina let out a small chuckle as she looked around and nodded, “yes, you’re quite right..”

She waved her hand and a moment later the two appeared in Emma’s living room, Regina held Emma as the blonde adjusted to the dizzying sensation of being transported by magic, “better?”

Emma nodded, “I will be when I get another of those kisses..”


	47. Chapter 47

Regina looked into Emma’s eyes with confusion, “why?

“Er,” Emma frowned, “because I like your kisses?”

“No,” Regina shook her head with a smile, “why do you want to be with me?”

“It feel right,” Emma replied with a shrug and leaned in to kiss Regina again.

Regina pulled away, “that’s not an answer.”

“Maybe I don’t have an answer,” Emma smiled, “maybe I just know?”

As Regina considered this Emma leaned in and captured another kiss which Regina instantly consented to. They stood in the middle of the living room with their arms wrapped around each other while their mouths, lips and tongues danced an intimate routine.

It was Regina who eventually broke the kiss with a shy smile, “we should stop..”

“But why?” Emma whined as Regina took a small step back.

“Because this is a lot for us both to take in and.. and I think we both need time to think, to process,” Regina answered honestly.

Emma frowned, “are my kisses that bad? I’ve always been told I’m a good kisser! Not that I’ve kissed that many people.. well.. depends..”

Regina placed the palm of her hand softly over Emma’s mouth to silence her, “stop talking,” she rolled her eyes, “your kisses are.. very nice.. almost too nice.”

Emma continued to frown until she got the unspoken meaning of Regina’s words, and muffled from beneath Regina’s hand, “oh! I’m too good?”

Regina removed her hand from Emma’s mouth and rolled her eyes, “I don’t want either of us to rush into anything.”

“We’re doing all of this backwards,” Emma nodded with a knowing smile.

Regina cocked her head to the side in a silent question.

“We had a kid together, we’ve shared a bed, we’ve made out.. I’ve not even bought you dinner yet,” Emma said with a cheeky smile.

Regina laughed and shook her head, “no, no way am I going to eat in Granny’s, don’t even think about it!”

Emma laughed, “where else? There’s hardly a big selection of fine dining locations in Storybrooke.”

“True,” Regina nodded, “I suppose I never considered that I’d be dating when I built the town.”

Emma frowned and Regina looked at her and asked, “what?”

“Nothing,” Emma said quickly, “maybe we could go somewhere out of Storybrooke?”

“Out with it,” Regina placed her hands on her hips, “what were you thinking?”

Emma knew she wouldn’t get away with a denial or a lie so she shrugged and replied honestly, “I was just thinking how you kinda cursed yourself too..”

Regina frowned, “what do you mean?”

“You created Storybrooke to take away everyone’s happy endings, right?” Emma asked.

“Crude but somewhat accurate,” Regina nodded.

“So, what.. you were gonna watch everyone be miserable forever? You didn’t make any provision for your own happiness?” Emma asked.

“That was my happiness,” Regina asserted.

“I don’t think you really believe that,” Emma said as Regina stared her down. Emma quickly collected the tea mug from the coffee table and took it into the kitchen to put some space between them, “I think you cursed yourself just as much as you cursed them.”

Regina marched towards the kitchen, “cursed myself?! Why would I do that? Do you think me some fool?”

Emma held her hands up in defence, “whoa, calm down.. I’m just saying that condemning yourself to this cursed town for the rest of your life.. doesn’t seem like a happy ending.”

“Then maybe you don’t know me as well as you think,” Regina sniped, her eyes flashing with rage.

“I think that you think you don’t deserve happiness,” Emma folded her arms and stared at Regina with a meaningful look, “but you do.”

Regina placed her hands on her hips and stared at Emma and opened her mouth to speak but this time Emma covered Regina’s mouth with the palm of her hand, “Regina.. maybe I’m right, maybe I’m wrong.. either way I don’t want to argue with you. I just want to take you to dinner. Can we leave fighting for another day?”

Emma saw Regina’s eyes soften and she slowly nodded. Emma removed her hand and smiled, “so, do you want to go somewhere out of town?”

Regina shook her head, “no, I.. I don’t want to go out, it’s been a busy day..”

The way Regina drifted off made Emma think that there was something she wanted to say, “yes?”

“I.. I would like to cook,” Regina admitted quietly.

Emma’s eyes lit up happily, “that sounds great!”

“Are you sure?” Regina asked, “I know it’s not customary for a date, but I find cooking.. relaxing.. comfortable.”

Emma found herself grinning at the word date but she simply nodded, “it’s perfect.. but we’ll have to go shopping because I have nothing here.”

Regina grinned at the prospect and Emma chuckled.

Regina’s face fell, “what?”

Emma smiled, “you’re such a wife..”

Regina frowned and Emma explained, “you enjoy grocery shopping, cooking.. I bet you even like to clean, don’t you?”

“I like a tidy home,” Regina sniffed.

Emma stepped forward and captured Regina’s lips in a chaste kiss, “it’s not a bad thing, it’s adorable.”

“I am not adorable,” Regina said with a cold stare.

Emma walked around Regina and towards the front door, “that look may work on other people but not me, come on, let’s go shopping.”


	48. Chapter 48

Once they entered the grocery store Regina picked up a basket but was surprised when Emma took it from her.

“I am capable of holding a basket of groceries, you know,” Regina uttered.

“I know,” Emma said softly, “but you’re making me dinner, I want to do something.”

Regina looked Emma in the eye for a moment before nodding and walking off up the first aisle. Emma watched her for a moment before following, the truth was that Emma had begun to notice that Regina was struggling. Her eyes were starting to glaze over in a mix between exhaustion and the loitering pain in her system and her movements were slower. Of course Emma valued her life so she would never mention any of this to the proud brunette and instead she decided she would just do what she could to make things a little easier.

“So, what are we having? Lasagne?” Emma asked as she caught up to the brunette.

Regina spun around, “lasagne? Why does everyone talk about my lasagne? Do they think it’s the only thing I can make?”

“Er, no,” Emma said slowly and deliberately, “I just know that people like your lasagne is all.. sorry.”

Regina closed her eyes for a moment before looking down at the ground, “I.. apologise, I’m feeling rather tired after this long day.”

Emma nodded, “then let me cook, or get takeaway, whatever is less likely to kill you,” she winked.

“No, as I said.. I do wish to cook,” Regina said as she turned to the cold meats in the fridge behind her, “and I’m going to teach you to cook as well.”

“Me?” Emma asked in panic, she’d seen Regina cook and she was like a professional chef and way beyond anything Emma would be able to do, “I really don’t think that’s a great idea.”

“Do you like chicken?” Regina asked, ignoring Emma’s trepidation.

“Yeah,” Emma shrugged.

“Do you have any allergies?” Regina asked.

“Really fluffy carpets,” Emma said as she casually read some labels on bottles on the shelf beside her, “it’s really weird, some carpets I’m fine with but some I..”

“Food allergies, Emma, food allergies,” Regina stared at the blonde.

“Oh, right, sorry.. nothing that I know of, no,” Emma said and rolled her eyes at herself the second Regina’s back was turned.

“Okay,” Regina said while she picked up a pack of chicken thighs, “and I presume you barely have any kitchen utensils?”

“Er, kinda,” Emma admitted and was about to apologise when Regina turned around and placed the pack of chicken in the basket Emma was holding.

“Do you have an ovenproof dish?” Regina cupped her hands, “around this size?”

Emma nodded, thankful that Mary Margaret had provided her with some basics on the off chance that Emma did ever decide to cook something at home.

“Wonderful, can you get some onions? I’m going to get some spices,” Regina said and turned on her heel and left Emma standing in the middle of the aisle wondering where onions would be kept.

“Oh hey Emma!”

Emma turned around to see Ruby, “Ruby! Thank God, where are the onions?”

Ruby laughed, “er, with the vegetables..”

Emma looked around in confusion and Ruby pointed to the front of the store. Emma frowned and grabbed Ruby’s hand and dragged her to the vegetable baskets.

“Red or white?” Ruby asked.

“You’re kidding me,” Emma muttered, “I dunno..” she turned around to see where Regina was and when she couldn’t see her she looked back at Ruby, “which ones are best?”

Ruby just grinned, “Emma, chill, what’s going on?”

Emma turned around again and she could see Regina a few aisles away selecting some spices, “Regina is cooking dinner, for me, and.. it’s kinda a date..”

It was in that moment that Emma was reminded that Ruby had wolf DNA in her body as a flash of light crossed her eyes and she bared her teeth in a wicked smile, “you and Regina? At last!”

“Yes, now which onions are best?” Emma rushed out.

“What is she making?” Ruby asked.

Emma looked into the basket, “something with chicken..”

“Right,” Ruby nodded, “well.. you know, Em.. she probably likes you for your other skills..”

“Miss Lucas,” Regina greeted as she approached the two younger women and placed paprika, stock, parsley and olive oil into the basket that Emma held.

“Call me Ruby, or Red,” Ruby smiled kindly at Regina, “sorry, I distracted Emma from whatever it was she was getting..”

Regina smiled as she leaned forward and picked up a red onion and placed it in the basket, “not a problem, Ruby,” Regina nodded and looked at Emma, “lemon.”

“Sorry?” Emma blinked.

“A lemon, they’re behind you, Dear,” Regina said as she indicated her head towards the pile of lemons behind Emma.

“Oh, right, yes,” Emma picked up a lemon and placed it in the basket.

“Right, well, I better go and get some things for Granny or she’ll be mad,” Ruby said as she passed by the two women and winked at Emma before disappearing down an aisle.

“Is there something I should know?” Regina asked with a little distance in her tone as she turned towards the checkouts.

“About what?” Emma asked.

“You and.. Ruby,” Regina said, “you seem awfully close..”

“Oh, no, no!” Emma quickly replied, “we’re friends but there’s nothing..”

“She winked at you,” Regina commented as she pulled the basket from Emma’s hand and gave it to the assistant.

Emma smiled, “she..” she looked at the assistant, “can we talk about this outside?”

The assistant looked with interested from the Sheriff to the former Mayor as she scanned and bagged the items.

“No, I rather think I’d like to talk about it now,” Regina grinned coldly.

Emma sighed and leaned in closer to the brunette, “she winked at me because she’s been telling me for weeks that I have a thing for you. I’ve been flustered every time she talks about you and she just caught me having a crisis of confidence over onions and I told her that we’re.. dating,” the blonde looked up at the assistant who was clearly able to hear every single word and was scanning the items deliberately slowly, “how about speeding this up?”

The assistant sighed and picked up the pace and Emma dared a glance at Regina who was smiling, “what?”

“A crisis of confidence over onions?” Regina asked.

“There are different types, I don’t even know what we’re cooking!” Emma said as she handed the assistant some money and glided past Regina to pick up the bag of groceries.

“Spanish chicken,” Regina replied, “even you can make this.”

Regina turned and walked towards the exit and Emma rolled her eyes and collected her change before rushing after her.


	49. Chapter 49

“Are you mad at me?” Emma asked as she caught up to Regina in the street.

“Why would I be mad at you?” Regina asked with a frown.

“The.. Ruby stuff,” Emma said.

Regina shook her head, “no, I’m not mad..”

“But?” Emma asked as she could detect that Regina wanted to say more.

Regina stopped and turned to Emma and worried her lip as she thought about what she wanted to say, “I.. I told you once that I’m not very good at loving someone..”

Emma nodded, she wasn’t about to issue her denial again as she wanted to hear what Regina had to say.

“I’m also not very good at trusting someone,” Regina admitted quietly, “and that trust.. has been stretched to the limit lately, with.. with Skye.”

Emma nodded again, wary of speaking and breaking the sharing mood that Regina was in.

“I don’t think you’re like her,” Regina said before looking Emma in the eyes, “because if you are I’ll kill you..” Emma grinned and nodded for Regina to continue, “but I have always been a fighter, I’ve learnt the hard way that if you don’t want to get hurt then you don’t let anyone in.”

Regina looked back at the ground and Emma nodded, “I get that, really I do, I’ve spent a lot of my life doing the same thing. I..” she waited for someone to walk by them before continuing, “I promise that I’ll not only earn your trust but I’ll understand how difficult it will be for you to give it freely. Just give me a chance, before you throw a fireball in my face.. just give me a chance to earn your trust. We’ll have ups and downs but just give me a chance..”

Regina nodded, “I will do my best.”

“So,” Emma said to lighten the mood, “Spanish chicken, eh?”

“Yes,” Regina smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear as they started walking back to Emma’s apartment, “it’s a one pot dish, very easy to make.”

“Can I say something that’s probably gonna piss you off?” Emma asked with a small grin.

“More than calling me a massive pain in the ass?” Regina queried with a small smirk.

“Oh, you caught that..” Emma winced.

“Yes, I’ll not be forgetting that in a hurry,” Regina promised in a light tone, “what do you want to say?”

“You look tired,” Emma winced, “I think you need to rest up soon..”

Regina looked like she was going to argue but then sighed and nodded, “I am very tired, it’s been a very long day.”

“Maybe we can have dinner and then get an early night?” Emma suggested as she hoped Regina would agree and get some much needed rest.

Regina raised an eyebrow and looked at Emma with a grin and Emma frowned for a moment before catching on to Regina’s line of thought, “oh, separately, early night separately! You.. you in your bed, well, my bed, and me in Henry’s bed. You know.. rest.”

Regina laughed and Emma blushed, “you’re mocking me,” Emma sighed.

“Yes, a little,” Regina admitted, “it’s just too easy to resist sometimes.”

They arrived at the door to the apartments and Emma shifted the paper bag in her grip in order to reach into her pocket to get her keys.

“Let me,” Regina murmured and slid her hands into Emma’s front pocket and pulled out the keys.

“T-thank you,” Emma stammered as Regina unlocked and opened the door for the blonde. Emma climbed the stairs on shaky legs and on the top floor she waited for Regina to pass her and unlocked the door again. 

Regina unlocked the door and stepped into the apartment and held the door open for Emma who walked in and placed the bag of groceries on the counter as Regina closed and locked the door. The brunette hung the keys on a small rack beside the door and noticed that one of the hooks was occupied with Henry’s keys and another with the key to Mifflin Street that Regina had given Emma when she’d left.

“Wash your hands,” Regina said as she strutted over to the kitchen.

Emma blinked, “hmm?”

“For cooking, wash your hands,” Regina repeated slowly.

“Oh, right,” Emma said and washed her hands in the kitchen sink as Regina unpacked the groceries and turned on the oven. 

“I warn you,” Emma said as she dried her hands, “I’ve been the cause of four cooking-related fires.”

“I remind you,” Regina said as she washed her own hands, “that I’ve been a cookery teacher.”

“Is there any way to bribe the teacher?” Emma winked.

“Yes,” Regina whispered as she took the towel from Emma’s hands and leaned in closely, “do it right.”

Emma laughed and Regina hung up the towel, “it’s quite simple,” Regina explained, “you need the dish.”

Emma opened up a cupboard and removed the dish and placed it on the worktop, it was well used and had birds painted on it.

“Well,” Regina looked at the dish with a sigh, “I wonder who the previous own might have been..”

“Regina,” Emma said in a warning tone.

Regina sighed, “place the chicken in the dish.”

“As it is?” Emma frowned.

“Yes, skin and bone on, Spanish food is quick and easy.. they sleep away half the afternoon so they don’t have time for much food prep,” Regina grinned as she located a chopping board and picked up the onion.

Emma opened the packaging and tipped it upside down to put the chicken in the dish, “done.”

“Good,” Regina said as she started to finely chop the onions like a professional, “open the pot of stock and put two teaspoons of paprika in.”

Emma opened a drawer and picked up a teaspoon and looked at Regina, “level or heaped teaspoons?”

Regina paused chopping and looked up, “depends how spicy you like it..”

Emma smiled and put two heaped spoons of paprika into the tub of liquid stock.

“And now add one tablespoon of olive oil to the stock,” Regina said as she rinsed the knife and dried it.

Emma added the oil and Regina quickly chopped up some parsley, “can you zest a lemon or will you need assistance?”

Emma shrugged, “never done it..”

“Do you have a grater?” Regina asked.

“I have a son who loves cheese toasties, of course I have a grater,” Emma laughed as she got a grater from the cupboard and placed it on the worktop.

Regina picked up the lemon and tossed it in the air and caught it again before walking around to stand behind Emma. She placed the lemon in Emma’s right hand and guided her left hand to the handle on top of the grater.

“The key is to just take the zest off, you don’t want too much of the rind,” Regina said as she pressed her body into Emma’s back and took Emma’s hand and gently rubbed the lemon on the metal teeth of the grater.

Emma was particularly thankful that Regina was holding her hand as she knew that without that support she would be shaking like a leaf at the contact. All too soon the task was complete and Regina let go of Emma and took a step back and returned to the chopping board.

“Did you give all your students that kind of special treatment?” Emma smiled.

“Only the really special cases,” Regina laughed.

Emma lifted the grater and looked at all the zest that had collected beneath, “now what?”

“Now, you get messy,” Regina smiled, “pour the stock into the dish, then add the lemon zest and this parsley.”

“Why is that messy?” Emma asked as she poured the stock into the dish and added the lemon zest.

“Because once you’ve added everything,” Regina said as she sliced the lemon in half and squeezed the juice into the dish, cupping her hand below to catch any stray pips, “you need to put your hands in to make sure it’s all mixed nicely.”

Emma picked up the parsley from the chopping board and threw it in, “okay,” she said as she plunged her hands in and started to mix the ingredients together, “am I doing this right?”

Regina nodded, “there’s no right or wrong, it just needs to be mixed.”

“What about the onions?” Emma asked.

“We add those later,” Regina nodded.

“Tricky onions,” Emma muttered as she lifted her hands out of the dish, the thick liquid hanging from her fingers and dripping into the dish, “is that okay?”

“Perfect,” Regina said and picked up the dish and opened the oven.

Emma started to wash her hands again, this time with copious amounts of soap to break through the oily liquid.

“In twenty minutes we add the onions and then twenty minutes after that it will be ready to eat,” Regina said as she closed the door.

“That’s it?” Emma asked in surprise.

“That’s it.”

“Wow, you’re right, even I can do that,” Emma said, stunned at how easy it had actually been, “are there many other one pot style dishes like that?”

Regina nodded, “many dishes,” she yawned and covered her mouth with the back of her hand, “I’ll teach you them and then one day you’ll be cooking for me.”

Emma nodded, “you need to sit down,” she said with a firm voice that left no room for debate.

Regina could tell that Emma wasn’t going to be sway, “I’ll rest for twenty minutes and then I’ll add the onions..”

Emma was already walking towards the living room and expecting Regina to follow her, which she dutifully did. Emma pointed at the sofa and Regina primly sat down and Emma rolled her eyes. She reached down and removed Regina’s high heeled shoes and placed them on the floor by the sofa, she then grabbed Regina’s ankles and pulled them up and onto the sofa making the brunette fall into a laying position, “Emma!”

The blonde ignored her and grabbed a soft blanket from the nearby armchair and draped it over Regina’s body, “rest, Sheriff’s orders,” Emma said with a nod as she flopped into the arm chair and picked up a book from under the coffee table and started to read quietly.


	50. Chapter 50

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A warning for naughty times ahead..

“Regina,” Emma softly touched the brunette on the shoulder, “time for dinner.”

Regina opened her eyes and looked around the room in confusion before her eyes settled on Emma’s she began to piece together where she was.

Emma could see the confusion in her eyes so stood up from her crouched position to give Regina a few moments to sort things out in her mind, “I added the onions like you said, all cooked and ready to eat,” the blonde said as she indicated the table she had laid out for them.

Regina sat up and looked over at the rustic looking dining table complete with two candles lit in empty wine bottles and a carafe of wine along with a jug of water, “how long was I asleep?”

“Nearly an hour,” Emma said, “don’t worry, you didn’t miss much.”

Regina smiled and stood up, she looked at her heels and seemed to consider putting them back on but then left them and made her way towards the dining area. Emma pulled out a chair for Regina and pointed to the table, “I didn’t know if you’d want wine or not?”

Regina shook her head, “I’ll fall asleep at the table if I do, but don’t let that stop you,” she said as she sat down and looked at the table cloth with interest. Nothing in the apartment was Regina’s style or taste, certainly nothing she would have chosen for herself, but she adored everything. From the tatty but comfortable furniture to the little personal touches Emma had scattered throughout the rooms she had seen, everything just seemed to fit and made the once bare brick rooms into a home.

“Water? Or there’s juice?” Emma said as she lifted the jug of water with a raised eyebrow.

“Water is fine,” Regina smiled as Emma poured her a glass.

“You hate my tablecloth,” Emma said with a small smile.

“No,” Regina said with a grin, “I was just thinking how very homely your apartment is.”

“Homely?” Emma laughed as she poured herself some wine and sat down, “am I being insulted?”

“Not at all,” Regina shook her head, “my tastes are.. plain, grand.. cold, I suppose some would say. Here, it’s.. well, it’s cosy and warm and.. soft.”

“Soft?” Emma raised an eyebrow as she placed a serving spoon into the chicken dish she had cooked and another into the rice she had made as an accompaniment and pushed both towards Regina to allow the woman to serve herself first.

“Never mind,” Regina bristled as she scooped some food onto her plate.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude, I’m just trying to understand,” Emma said with a wince. Regina rarely opened up and Emma had made the mistake of seemingly mocking her when she did.

Regina pushed the dishes back towards Emma and nodded, “I’m not sure I can explain.”

Emma piled some food onto her own plate, “are you comfortable here? That’s the main thing..”

Regina nodded with a soft smile, “very, I’ll have you know I don’t usually fall asleep on a strange sofa.”

“Then..” Emma tried to sound casual, “maybe you’ll stay here for a little while?”

Regina looked up at Emma and the blonde quickly continued, “I’ll take the sofa, of course, you can have my room.”

“Keeping an eye on me?” Regina joked as she tried to understand Emma’s real reasoning.

“It just makes sense,” Emma shrugged, “Henry wants to spend time with you, I.. I want to spend time with you.. and I don’t want you to go back to your house just yet. Not until I’m a million percent sure it’s safe, which I’m sure it is,” she hastily added, “but.. well, it just makes sense.”

“A million percent?” Regina laughed as she cut some food, “I see why Henry is failing math.”

“He isn’t failing math,” Emma denied, “it’s just that Mary Margaret pushes him harder than the other kids..”

“Two days,” Regina said after swallowing a bite of food.

“What?” Emma asked.

“I’ll stay for two days,” Regina explained, “then I’ll return to Mifflin Street.”

“Oh,” Emma nodded, “great.”

Regina sighed, “now you seem disappointed, do you not want me to stay after all?”

“I wanted you to stay longer,” Emma admitted quietly.

“Oh,” Regina said with surprise, “well.. we.. we should really discuss that with Henry. He might not want it.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Emma scoffed, “what kid wants both parents under the one roof?”

“What about you, Miss Swan?” Regina held a piece of chicken on her fork as she stared darkly at Emma, “do you want me to stay for any reason.. other than to.. ensure my safety?”

Emma swallowed hard as she watched Regina eat the chicken, her luscious lips wrapping sexually around the fork, her teeth holding the chicken in place as she pulled the fork free from her mouth. Emma had no idea why it was sexy but it was.

“A.. as I mentioned..” Emma stammered, “I’ve never.. been with a woman.. I don’t know what I’m doing, but I.. have these feelings, these urges..”

“Oh, yes, you were going to purchase a book,” Regina smirked.

“Regina, I’m serious,” Emma said with exasperation.

Regina sipped some water before replying, “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be flippant. But you don’t need a book, you don’t need experience, you’ll.. find your way around,” Regina waved her hand.

Emma reached for her wine glass and down the last three quarters of it in one gulp before quickly pouring herself some more.

“Emma,” Regina whispered softly and waited for the blonde to look up at her, “don’t worry. Things work themselves out, like they do in every relationship.. man and a woman, woman and woman.. it just happens. Just relax.”

Emma nodded and looked down at her food, “this.. this is delicious,” she said sincerely.

“Yes,” Regina admitted, “you did a fine job.”

“I only did what you told me,” Emma admitted but then saw the look in Regina’s eyes and laughed as she pointed a finger at her, “don’t!”

Regina held up her hands in defence, “wouldn’t dream of making any comment,” she winked.

After they finished dinner Emma had insisted on washing up and cleaning everything away and pointed Regina in the direction of the bedrooms so she could unpack her belongings and settle into Emma’s bedroom.

Regina opened the door and peaked around the corner as if she were doing something sneaky, it seemed so odd to be in Emma’s bedroom. The room was small but not cramped, like everything in the apartment had seemed. The double bed had a solid wooden frame and welcoming sheets and blankets that were clean but worn, Regina ran her hand over the pillow case and could imagine the softness that she would find there when she slept.

Both bedside cabinets were made of wood and had been painted in a distressed look to fit in with the room, one had a small reading lamp and a book which Regina picked up. She smiled when she realised it was the Grimm Brothers and put the book back down on the bedside cabinet. 

She put her bag on the bed and unzipped it and began to remove some clothing and toiletry items. She placed the folded clothing on an upholstered chair in the corner and put her toiletry bag on the chest of drawers before reaching for her dark red silk pyjamas that she had worn the previous night. She closed the door to behind her and quickly stripped off her clothes until she was down to her black underwear, as she pulled the roll neck sweater off she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and sighed at the bruising around her neck which seemed to have gotten worse rather than better.

She walked towards the floor-length mirror and touched the angry purple marks to get a better look at them.

“Here’s some..” Emma announced as she barged into the room with some clean towels, she saw Regina in her underwear and the towels fell to the floor, “.. towels.”

Regina turned around in complete confidence as if she were not wearing only a matching bra and panties set and raised an eyebrow at the towels on the floor.

“I’m so sorry!” Emma exclaimed and looked from the door to the towels as if debating whether to pick up the linens or simply run from the room.

“Quite all right,” Regina drawled and placed her hands on her hips as she looked at the panicked Sheriff in front of her with amusement.

“I didn’t..” Emma blurted out.

“Think to knock?” Regina guessed with a grin.

“Know you were getting changed..” Emma completed, still staring at Regina’s body.

“I believe the appropriate statement is that you should take a picture as it will last longer,” Regina said suggestively.

Emma spun around to present her back to Regina, “Regina,” she started again, “I am so sorry.. I.. well.. I..”

Suddenly Regina was behind Emma and the older woman wrapped her arms around the blonde’s torso, partly in an embrace and partly to keep her from running away, “and yet.. you couldn’t bring yourself to leave,” Regina whispered softly.

“I.. wanted to apologise..” Emma mumbled.

Regina let go of Emma and tiptoed over the fallen towels to the bedroom door and closed it, leaning back on it while her hand still grabbed the handle, “do you like what you see?”

Emma turned to look at Regina and nodded earnestly, her eyes were dark with lust, “yes, you.. you’re beautiful, Regina..”

Regina bit her lower lip seductively, “will you let me thank you for dinner?”

Emma slowly nodded as if in a trance and Regina grinned and took a few steps towards the stunned blonde and firmly pushed her back onto the mattress. Emma raised herself on her elbows and watched as Regina lifted Emma’s right leg and slowly unzipped the tight boot before wiggling Emma’s foot out of it. The momentum jostled Regina’s full breasts in their black silk bra and Emma was torn between staring intently at them and looking away so as not to objectify the brunette.

With one boot shed Regina reached for the next and repeated the motion, “you can look at them, Saviour,” Regina grinned, “you can even touch them if you like?”

The other boot was discarded and Regina looked at Emma with a questioning raised eyebrow. Emma nodded, “y-yes, please..”

“Soon,” Regina said and quickly unbuttoned Emma’s jeans and started to slide them down Emma’s long legs, “you’re inadequately dressed for what I want to do to you.”

As soon as the jeans and socks were thrown to the floor Emma could feel Regina staring at her panties and she felt for sure that the brunette would be able to see the gathering wetness through the thin, white material.

Regina quickly pushed Emma’s legs aside and kneeled in between them, spreading her own legs ever so slightly to keep Emma’s legs in position. Regina leaned forward and looked at the popper fastenings on Emma’s shirt and grinned evilly, “how practical,” she congratulated before pulling each side apart quickly. 

With the shirt open Emma’s white bra was on display for Regina to see and Emma mentally cursed herself for not wearing anything special but that was quickly forgotten as Regina leaned forward, causing Emma’s legs to spread a little more apart, and captured Emma’s lips with her own.

Regina’s right hand was suddenly touching Emma’s pussy through the thin panties and Emma moaned deeply into Regina’s open mouth. Regina pulled her head back, her dark locks framing her face as she smiled down at Emma, “so deliciously ready for me, I’m flattered.”

Regina waved her hand and it took Emma a couple of seconds to notice that the brunette was now completely naked and Emma started to find a new appreciation for her magical partner.

“Slide back a little,” Regina commanded and Emma did so immediately as she stared at Regina’s body and watched as the brunette laid down on her front between Emma’s legs. Regina wrapped one arm around Emma’s thigh and held onto Emma’s side with the other hand.

“May I take these off?” Regina asked with a meaningful look to Emma’s panties. Emma nodded and a second later she felt the material had vanished and a second later she felt Regina’s mouth devouring her pussy.

Emma had only encountered oral sex once before and it was a decidedly average experience but whatever Regina was doing to her it was completely frying Emma’s brain and she cried out in pleasure and arched her back off of the bed involuntarily. She arms flailed wildly until Regina caught her hands in her own and threaded their fingers together tightly to give Emma something to hold on to.

Regina’s tongue danced expertly around Emma’s clit and she registered the result every lick brought and before long Emma was screaming in pleasure and bucking almost off of the bed. Regina held Emma’s hands tightly to keep the blonde in place and kept up the relentless momentum until she suddenly felt Emma’s grip on her hands tighten even more and her thighs started to shake. 

“Regina!” Emma screamed, “oh my God, yes!”

Regina maintained the pressure until Emma’s body collapsed onto the bed with a thud. She then disentangled herself from Emma’s hands and rose up onto her knees and wiped at her mouth with her hand.

“Jesus,” Emma mumbled incoherently, “that.. that was amazing..”

Regina smiled down at the panting blonde, “thank you,” she winked causing Emma to roll her eyes and laugh.


	51. Chapter 51

Emma sat up and quickly removed her shirt and her bra, leaving her as naked as Regina and then knelt in front of the kneeling brunette, “I want to make you feel good, Regina, tell me how..” she whispered as she leaned in for a kiss.

Regina brought one hand up to Emma’s face and leaned into the kiss. Emma opened her mouth immediately and slide her tongue into Regina’s mouth to share the taste of her wetness that was still coating Regina’s tongue.

While passionately kissing Emma, Regina grabbed the blonde’s hand and guided it between her legs confidently. Emma gasped into the kiss and Regina held her face firmly in position to continue the kiss while decisively shaping Emma’s hand and showing Emma where and how she wanted to be touched.

Emma quickly understood and glided her three taught fingers from Regina’s wet hole up to her hard clit while her tongue played with Regina’s. Regina tore her face away from Emma’s and pushed Emma back a little with her hand, “I..” she stumbled, “I need to lay down..”

The smile on Emma’s face lit up the room as she nodded and quickly wrapped her free arm around Regina and pivoted her down and onto the bed all while continuing stroking Regina’s pussy. Emma balanced herself onto top of Regina, cautious not to put her full weight on the brunette and to avoid the bruising around her neck.

“Inside,” Regina whispered softly.

Emma nodded and placed one finger inside Regina and moaned out loud at the pleasure of being inside the woman.

“More..” Regina instructed, “two fingers..”

Emma nodded again and removed her first finger to return with two fingers, “like that?”

Regina nodded with an enormous smile, “perfect, Emma.. now.. thrust and.. and put your thumb..” Regina reached both hands down to position Emma’s thumb right on top of her clit.

Emma did as she was told and Regina moaned loudly in pleasure, “kiss me,” the brunette commanded and Emma lowered her mouth to be captured by Regina in another passionate kiss. 

Regina bucked her hips to meet each of Emma’s thrusts and Emma knew the brunette was close. She pulled away from the kiss, “I want to taste you, Regina,” she confessed as she pulled her fingers out of the older woman.

The response was Regina closing her eyes in frustration and throwing her head back onto the bed, “you’ll be the death of me.”

Emma quickly positioned herself in between Regina’s legs and looked at the glistening pussy with wonder, of course she had one herself but this view was entirely new to her. She could see Regina’s clit actually pulsating and she smiled as she lowered her face closer to the small nub and flicked her tongue across the top of it.

“God!” Regina cried as her hands found Emma’s head and forced her to repeat the action.

Emma laughed brought her head up slightly and looked at Regina with a grin, “hey, I’m learning here.. slow down..”

“Finish what you started right now or I’ll finish it myself,” Regina threatened as she again pushed Emma’s face into her crotch.

Emma opened her mouth and roughly tongued Regina’s clit in small circles and was thrilled when Regina’s hips rose up off of the bed and she screamed something incomprehensible. Emma might not have known a lot about cunnilingus but she knew about penetration and quickly inserted her two fingers back into Regina gently before she started slowly thrusting in an unhurried manner.

“Faster,” Regina commanded.

“No,” Emma mumbled and maintained the same slow pace of thrusting while her tongue raced across Regina’s clit. The counterbalance of the actions had Regina arching her entire back off of the bed as she sought out the pleasure that was on the way. 

“Oh! Emma!” Regina cried, unsure what Emma was doing to her body with the relaxed pace of the thrusting but enjoying it immensely.

Suddenly Regina’s body tensed and Emma plunged her fingers deep into Regina and curled her fingers and rubbed hard at the knot of nerves she found there. Regina screamed as her orgasm shuddered its way through her body until she flopped gracelessly into the mattress and began to gently laugh.

Emma sat up on her knees and removed her fingers from the brunette, “something funny?”

Regina looked up at the blonde with dazed eyes as she continued to laugh, “you don’t need a book..”

Emma grinned happily, “I’m glad you feel that way.”

Regina yawned and Emma laughed as she quipped, “I hope that’s the day catching up on you and not a reflection on my efforts..”

Regina waved her hand and a second later Emma found herself under the covers on her side facing Regina in a similar pose facing her.

“Some warning wouldn’t go amiss,” Emma complained.

“Emma, come to bed,” Regina commented as her eyes started to close.

Emma smiled as she reached her hand out and brushed Regina’s hair behind her ear lovingly. She watched as Regina quickly fell into a deep sleep and after she was assured that Regina was safely asleep she allowed her own eyes to flutter closed.


	52. Chapter 52

Emma jogged down the final stretch of her morning route with her iPod headphones hammering out running tunes in her ears. She loved summer mornings, it was so much nicer to jog in the daylight than in the dark winter mornings. Lately she was feeling the burn in her legs more than she used to, probably a result of the weight she had gained from Regina’s delicious cooking.

She came to a stop and paused her music as she leaned forward with her hands on her knees and tried to get her breath back. After a few moments she realised she wasn’t alone and she looked up to see Marco standing in front of her, holding his cap in front of him and looking flustered.

“Marco,” Emma said evenly as she stood up and looked the old man in the eye.

“Sheriff,” Marco greeted with a nervous smile, “I.. wanted to talk to you. About the Mayor.”

“Ex-Mayor,” Emma corrected.

“Of course,” he nodded and looked at the ground.

“What about her?” Emma asked while attempting to maintain a grip on her anger.

“I wanted to apologise to her,” Marco said while refusing to make eye contact, “I didn’t want to go to her house.. out of the blue..”

“She’s not there,” Emma said and Marco looked up at Emma with confusion, “she’s staying with me.”

“Hey, Emma,” Mary Margaret said as she approached.

“Hi,” Emma said tersely, still staring at Marco.

Marco bowed his head respectfully at Mary Margaret and the brunette smiled back at him, “good morning, Marco,” she could tell there was a strange atmosphere, “is everything okay?”

“I was just speaking to the Sheriff because I wanted to apologise to.. Regina,” he struggled to use her informal designation, “for my actions.”

“Oh,” Mary Margaret smiled, “well, that’s really good of you Marco.”

Emma spun her head to stare at Mary Margaret angrily.

“Oh come on, Emma, it will be cathartic,” Mary Margaret said, “I’m on my way to see Regina myself, maybe we should all go? She lives with Emma now,” she told Marco with a smile.

“She doesn’t live with me, she’s staying with me,” Emma corrected.

“It’s been two months, she’s living with you,” Mary Margaret pointed out with a grin.

“She’s.. adjusting..” Emma whispered to Mary Margaret so Marco wouldn’t hear.

“She’s moved all her cooking equipment in,” Mary Margaret whispered back, “she’s living with you, Emma.”

Mary Margaret started speaking to Marco about some repairs he was working on in the library and Emma silently followed them as she considered what her mother had said. After that first night together, Emma had been reluctant to let Regina out of her sight so she had stayed the two nights that she agreed but then that had been extended by two more nights. And then two more nights. Henry had returned from his long stay at the Charming’s and was ecstatic to have them all under the same roof. 

Suddenly they were no longer extending Regina’s stay by two nights, it wasn’t mentioned. She commandeered a couple of Emma’s chest of drawers and half of the wardrobe. The refrigerator had never had so much fresh food in it. Regina cast a silencing spell every night so Henry wouldn’t hear what happened in his mother’s bedroom, but he was aware that they shared the bed and didn’t say a word. 

Regina occasionally picked up things from Mifflin Street and brought them to Emma’s apartment but always with either Emma or Henry for company. As they approached the apartment Emma noticed the yellow bug in front of the door with the black Mercedes just behind it, what she had come to think of as Regina’s parking space.

Mary Margaret opened the street door and Emma grabbed Marco’s arm and pointed to the yellow bug, “stay there, I’ll be back,” she said as she pulled Mary Margaret into the communal area of the apartments and whispered, “Regina’s moved in!”

“Yes, Honey, I told you that,” Mary Margaret smiled sweetly and patted Emma softly on the forearm as she started to climb the first flight of stairs.

Emma ran around her, “it’s been two months!”

“Yes,” Mary Margaret smiled and stepped around the blonde, “I told you that, too.”

“Why did no one tell me?” Emma hissed.

“We decided that it was best to let you figure it out on your own,” Mary Margaret said as she climbed the next flight of stairs.

“WE?!” Emma said as she followed her mother up the stairs.

“Yes, me, David.. Henry.. Regina.. Ruby,” Mary Margaret paused and listed on her fingers, “Archie, Granny, Belle, Katherine.. of course..”

“Oh, of course!” Emma squeaked.

Mary Margaret continued up to Emma’s apartment door and knocked as she glanced down to Emma who was a flight of stairs down. The door opened and Regina smiled, “come in,” she said before following Mary Margaret’s line of sight to Emma, “what are you doing down there?”

“She’s just realised you’re living together,” Mary Margaret told the older woman, “and Marco is downstairs, he wants to apologise to you.”

Regina was frowning at Emma who seemed to be still in the process of piecing things together when she looked at Mary Margaret, “apologise?”

“Yes, the guilt has been eating at him, he wants to apologise. Archie thought it would be good for both of you, but it’s your choice, obviously,” Mary Margaret said.

“Obviously,” Regina nodded firmly, “very well, he is downstairs?”

Mary Margaret nodded, “yes, I’ll come with you..”

“No,” Regina shook her head, “I want to do this alone.”

That broke Emma from her spell, “no, no way..”

Regina looked at Mary Margaret, “the kettle has just boiled, make yourself some tea and I’ll be back in a moment.”

Mary Margaret nodded and walked into the apartment and Regina walked down the stairs, “I’ll do this alone, I have magic now remember, Darling,” she said to Emma as she passed her.

Emma watched as Regina made her way down the stairs and struggled with the decision of leaving the brunette to face Marco alone as she wished or following her. Eventually she sat on the stairs intent on waiting for Regina to return.

Marco jumped as Regina stormed through the door and onto the street and folded her arms, “well?”

“Your Majesty,” Marco looked down at his feet and worried the rim of his cap, “I.. I come to give you my apologies for my unforgivable behaviour, I know nothing can erase my part in what happened to you but I must try.”

Regina tilted her head to one side and regarded the older man for a full minute before nodding, “very well,” she said as she turned on her heel.

“But.. but Your Majesty,” Marco spluttered causing Regina to turn around and face him again.

“What?” Regina frowned, “I forgive you.. go back to your whittling wood.”

“But,” Marco looked confused, “a.. aren’t you going to shout at me? Curse me? Turn me into a bat? Threaten me?”

Regina put her hands on her hips and looked exasperated, “no. You apologised. I accepted. Isn’t that how these things work? I’m new to the apology business but I think that’s the basic dynamic.”

“I.. I.. don’t know,” Marco shrugged.

Regina sighed and looked at him again, “very helpful.”

“I expected more,” Marco said, “Doctor Hopper said that your anger would alieve my guilt. Accepting your punishment would help me.”

“Ha!” Regina laughed, “stupid cricket told me that forgiving you would make me feel better.”

“Do you feel better?” Marco asked warily.

“No,” Regina barked and shook her head.

“Hit me,” Marco said and lifted his head as he took a step closer to Regina.

“I’m sorry?” Regina stared at him in bewilderment.

“Please, Your Majesty, strike me,” Marco said, “it will make us both feel better. This is how things are solved in our world.”

“Hit him,” Emma said from the doorway.

“Emma?” Regina looked at her lover with wide eyes, “you’re the Sheriff!”

“Yeah, I’m off duty, smack him,” Emma nodded, “he wants you to.”

Regina turned towards Marco and clenched and unclenched her fist, “are you sure about this Geppetto?”

He nodded and Regina shook her head in disbelief before turning her back to him but then quickly swinging around and connecting her fist to his jaw. Marco fell to the floor and Regina shook the pain out of her hand as she watched the older man stand up and move his jaw from one side to the other to check if anything was broken. As a small trickle of blood fell from his split lip he smiled at Regina, “thank you, Your Majesty,” he inclined his head in respect and walked away.

Regina turned to Emma, “some law enforcer you are!”

“What?”

“Hit him!” Regina mocked.

“Do you feel better?” Emma asked.

Regina considered it for a moment, “yes.. I suppose I do.”

“I hope not well enough to move back into Mifflin Street?” Emma asked quietly.

“Not unless you’re kicking me out?” Regina asked.

“Definitely not.. But I only just realised you’re living here,” Emma admitted.

“I know, we decided to let you figure it out yourself,” Regina said and Emma held up her hands and nodded as she said, “yeah, I just heard.”

Regina stepped closer to the blonde and wrapped her in a loving embrace, “I love you, Emma Swan, you may be a massive pain in the ass but I still love you,” she grinned. Emma laughed and leaned into the hug.

“So, you are okay with me living here?” Regina confirmed.

“Oh, God yes!” Emma said quickly, “things have been so perfect I hadn’t stopped to think about the details. I love you, Regina.”

THE END

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, that was a longer story than I intended! 
> 
> Thank you to everyone who left Kudos, comments or messaged me - I really do appreciate your comments and it's great to hear that people are enjoying the story.


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